What is the GDC for? This is not just a BDS exam question, but one many registrants will ask themselves. Whatever the official answer, ‘protecting the public’ must be at the heart of their mission, indeed it was at one time inscribed on the wall over reception at 37 Wimpole Street.
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Newly qualified dentists would be offered a ’Golden Hello’ of £20,000 to work in areas deemed to be ’dental deserts’ if Labour wins the next election.
Another day, another headline. And once again, it’s the failings of NHS dentistry provision that’s sounding alarm bells.
Read more: NHS Dentistry At 'Most Perilous Point For 75 Years' Says Think Tank
It is the Pantomime season. Across the country, theatres full of adults and the children who have given them the cover to attend, will be cheering on the heroes and booing the villains.
The GDC itself has a regulator, the Professional Standards Authority (PSA) who in their own words “protect the public by overseeing the regulation and registration of healthcare professionals".
The Government has now responded to the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee inquiry into NHS dentistry, held in the summer. According to the UK Parliament website the Government has accepted the “majority of MP’s recommendations on NHS dentistry”.
The former practice manager of a dental practice in Ormskirk, Lancashire, has been jailed for six years and nine months at Preston Crown Court after she was found guilty of stealing over a quarter of a million pounds from her employer, Mansion House Dental Practice.
Read more: Practice Manager Jailed for Theft of Nearly £300K
Their website may be down, the ‘smile shops’ shuttered, and the barrage of marketing emails has finally stopped, but the SmileDirectClub (SDC) story may just be starting. None of this comes as a surprise to many in the profession. There had been repeated warnings, and concerns had been raised with the regulators. How then, affected members of the public may ask, did things get to this stage? In a post on GDPUK, BDA Chair Eddie Crouch sheds some light on how SDC were able to keep their flawed business going.
Along with the boxes of chocolates and biscuits from appreciative patients, it’s that time of year when NHS England send out their tokens of appreciation to the teams delivering dental care across the nation.