The General Dental Council has set out plans to modernise fitness to practise regulation over the next three years, with outcomes planned through to 2030.
Consulting on its Corporate Strategy 2026-2028, titled ‘Trusted and Effective: A Strategy for Dental Regulation’, the GDC said:
“Key priorities include modernising our registration and renewal processes through improved and more user-centred digital services, streamlining fitness to practise investigations to be more proportionate and timelier, and working collaboratively with the sector to address challenges around access to dental services, particularly NHS provision.”
The GDC is actively working to refine its fitness to practise process to ensure it is fair, proportionate, and effective in protecting patient safety while minimizing undue stress on dental professionals. While changes have been made since 2018, the GDC acknowledges that more needs to be done—particularly in reducing the adversarial nature of investigations and shifting towards a prevention-focused regulatory model.
Key priorities include:
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Encouraging early interventions that focus on learning and remediation, rather than punitive measures.
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Minimizing stress by ensuring cases are concluded in a timely manner.
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Building trust with dental professionals by prioritizing support, risk mitigation, and professional development.
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Reducing the climate of fear surrounding fitness to practise proceedings, which has been identified as a major stress factor for dental professionals.
Lord Toby Harris, Chair of the GDC, said:
“With the launch of our public consultation today, we’re keen to receive feedback from dental professionals, stakeholders and partners over the next three months, as this important feedback will shape the final decisions that the Council will take in the Autumn.”
“Our public protection role remains the same, but we are proposing that we think more broadly about what that means when faced with challenges such as access to NHS dentistry and growing oral health inequalities. We cannot realise our vision of good oral health for all alone, but we can play a key role in creating the environment in which there are more dental professionals equipped to deliver the care that people need.”
Tom Whiting, Chief Executive and Registrar of the GDC, said:
“The invaluable feedback we hear from dental professionals when we visit dental settings and meet at events is about fear and the need to modernise and reform. We have listened and addressing these priorities is at the centre of our proposals.
“Through trusted and effective regulation, we will support dental professionals to provide the right care for their patients. We want to develop our approach to regulation and how we work with others, particularly dental professionals, our partners and patients.
“Our priority is reducing the fear and stress that regulation creates for professionals by adopting a more empathetic approach and securing incremental improvements within the existing legislative framework.
“Our legislation is outdated and an impediment to effective regulation in a number of areas. We have been strongly advocating for wholesale reform of our framework for several years, and will continue to do so.
“Council has given careful consideration to the funding required to continue to modernise and improve efficiency while ensuring we remain financially stable and has decided on the delivery of our plans over a five-year period. Spreading out the costs associated with the delivery of our strategic ambitions will help ensure financial stability, and affordability for fee-payers.”
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