Who is the Fairest (Regulator) of Them All?
- Details
- Published: Thursday, 19 December 2024 08:24
- Written by Peter Ingle
- Hits: 456
It‘s the pantomime season again and the GDC have been looking in the mirror and asking for some positive feedback. The results of the GDC stakeholder survey 2023 have now been published and the results suggest that there has been a ‘modest‘ improvement in how the regulator is viewed since the last survey in 2020.
In 2018, 2020 and again in 2023 the GDC have funded YouGov to survey and report the views of dental professionals, students, and key stakeholders, of the GDC.
The project, which combined quantitative and qualitative methods, had responses from over 3200 registrants, as well as 106 students, and 68 stakeholders.
The bad news is that positive perceptions of the GDC sit at 20% while negative views are at 56%. The good news is that in 2020 the figures were even worse at 16% and 65% respectively. At this rate of progress the GDC is on course to reach a 50% positive rating by 2047.
One consistent result is that dental students generally held more favourable opinions than other groups. It is almost as if the more dental professionals experience and interact with the GDC, the more negative their opinion of their regulator.
Common associations included ‘fear’ and ‘unrepresentative’, both at 46%.
Among students, fear was the most commonly associated word at just over half (53%) with knowledgeable second (41%). Other stakeholders most commonly associated the GDC with being unrepresentative (40%), followed by aggressive and defensive (both 34%).
Unsurprisingly, the Fitness to Practise (FtP) process is a major influence on perceptions of the GDC, and driving registrants’ fear. The GDC’s comments on the survey admit that, “this fear often stems from hearing about others’ experiences, fostering anxiety about regulatory intervention which affects how care is delivered.”
Stefan Czerniawski, Executive Director of Strategy at the GDC, was quoted: "It matters that the GDC is trusted by those we regulate, and it will not be trusted if perceptions are dominated by fear. We know there is more we need to do to reduce the stress of fitness to practise cases. We also want to work with others to counter negative perceptions and help dental professionals to understand what we do and how we do it – and demonstrate that we are more interested in supporting high professional standards than in catching people out.”
Registrants who recall Stefan Czerniawski’s comments about the importance of trust and transparency, and then the GDCs actual behaviour, for example on releasing data on deaths during Fitness to Practice, may wonder which version of the Executive Director of Strategy was being quoted.
Looking at the actual YouGov document rather than the GDC’s own news item, is revealing. For example: “Compared with 2020, a slightly higher proportion associated the GDC with ‘fear’, and the research suggests that there are many ways the GDC could improve its relationship with registrants, students, and other stakeholders. The focus groups revealed the strength of negative feelings towards the GDC, often quite strongly expressed, and what the means to address these negative feelings might be.”
There were some other, all too familiar, observations:
- Negative perceptions of the GDC appear to be embedded in the minds of longer serving registrants
- Adopting a more personal and empathetic tone to GDC communications was a key area that could help shift portrayals of the GDC as an “austere organisation that exists to judge and discipline.”
- A sense among more senior dentists that the GDC is staffed by those who do not know enough about dentistry, and that they therefore have a disconnect with registrants’ roles.
The report added that: “The need for empathy cannot be overstated; there was an appetite for the GDC to demonstrate that it understands the pressures that registrants are facing and has, even to some extent, ‘walked in their shoes’ at some point. Initiatives such as ‘meet the staff’ may help to address this.”
In a recent blog GDC Chair, Lord Harris commented on the survey. He returned to his contention that meeting and listening to stakeholders must be a priority for any organisation. He asserted that being interested in stakeholders’ perceptions was not for the purpose of reputation management and went on to accept that the FtP process is a key factor influencing perceptions of the GDC and driving registrants’ fear.
He added that: “The GDC recognises that dental professionals who fear regulatory actions may practise defensively, prioritise excessive record-keeping, or limit their scope of practice, and that these behaviours do not serve patients’ interests and can ultimately reduce both the quality and quantity of care.”
You need to be logged in to leave comments.
Report