Indemnifiers Respond to Publication of GDC Suicide Data
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- Published: Thursday, 07 November 2024 09:05
- Written by Peter Ingle
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Within a day of its release two established indemnifiers had commented publicly on the GDC report about causes of death during Fitness to Practice.
The Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland (MDDUS) observed that every death that occurred during a fitness to practise (FtP) investigation was one too many.
They acknowledged that the GDC report went “some way to acknowledging the impact they can have on health and wellbeing.” Explaining this guarded response they said that there were other life changing health impacts of the process that need to be taken into account. From their perspective as a defence organisation, MDDUS were well aware that FtP investigations can take a heavy toll on dental professionals, and noted that they have long been advocating for reform of the GDC.
Understanding that regulators exist to protect patients, but they must be fair and proportionate, MDDUS repeated their concerns about long delays in investigations. They also referred to the disturbing evidence that FtP cases are disproportionately made against professionals from ethnic minority backgrounds, and that this was putting undue stress on them.
The GDC’s acknowledgment of these factors was not enough and the increased transparency demonstrated by the GDC in the creation of this report must now be extended to their investigation processes.
Commenting, Rachael Bell, Head of Dental at MDDUS said, “More work needs done to improve the quality of communication in the early stages and to minimise communication errors, which can lead to unnecessary stress to registrants.
“Further work is also needed to prevent the weaponizing of the GDC by informants and to minimise the health impacts on an already stretched dental workforce.”
The Dental Defence Union (DDU), has also commented. John Makin, head of the DDU,
welcomed the publication of the report and said: “DDU members tell us that undergoing a GDC investigation is one of the most difficult experiences of their professional lives. The stress of being under scrutiny is unsettling for anyone but it is particularly traumatic for dental professionals who have to face a lengthy and potentially career-limiting process.
“We welcome the steps the GDC has taken, as detailed in the report, to lessen the impact of its investigations but we continue to maintain that more must be done. We must reduce delays in investigations. One death of a colleague due to the stress of a fitness to practise investigation is a death too many. We must all play our part in supporting colleagues with the strains of practice.
“The GDC has been able to make limited reforms to improve its fitness to practise procedures, such as piloting the use of initial inquiries and improved training for its staff.”
Dental Protection released their statement a couple of days later. The response from Deputy Dental Director, Dr George Wright, began with a positive assessment: “While this long-awaited report makes for difficult reading, it is the first step in understanding the extent of this problem and we see this as a breakthrough initiative.”
He then went on to add: “There is however much more to be done, and we hope the much-needed transparency on deaths during fitness to practise investigations will continue, with regular reporting of this data combined with ongoing efforts by the regulator to further reduce the impact of its investigations.
“Reform to the GDC’s outdated legislation is essential to reduce investigation delays, which we know significantly impact mental wellbeing. Reform could give the regulator greater discretion to not take forward investigations where allegations clearly do not require action, so it could then focus on the most serious allegations and process them faster. The Government must expedite the reform of the GDC, and we will continue to press for this.”
To emphasise the seriousness of the situation in a recent survey by Dental Protection of 125 dental professionals who have been investigated by the GDC in the last five years, over a quarter (28%) had experienced suicidal thoughts during their investigation.
As GDPUK readers will know, the GDC have fought doggedly to avoid sharing this data, and then delayed its release again and again. Despite the time taken, by their own admission they are possibly under reporting the numbers. It may be relevant that their announcement came from the Chair rather than the tarnished Executive Team, who have so often mistaken their ability to talk about transparency, with behaving transparently.
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