PSA escalates concerns as GDC again fails to meet fitness to practise timeliness standard

The Professional Standards Authority (PSA) has formally escalated concerns to ministers after the General Dental Council (GDC) failed—once again—to meet the regulatory standard on the timely handling of fitness to practise cases in its 2024/25 performance review.

The PSA’s latest periodic review, published on 19 December 2025, assessed the GDC’s performance between 1 October 2024 and 30 September 2025. While the regulator met 16 of the PSA’s 18 Standards of Good Regulation, it did not meet Standard 15, which requires fitness to practise cases to be progressed and concluded without undue delay.

PSA: Delays remain too long despite improvement measures

The PSA reported that the GDC “is taking too long to deal with fitness to practise cases” and that although the regulator has introduced measures intended to improve timeliness, these “have not yet led to sufficient improvements to the time it is taking to reach decisions”.

Because the GDC has now failed Standard 15 repeatedly, the PSA has taken action under its Escalation Policy. It has written to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and the Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee to update them on the GDC’s performance and highlight the continued failure to meet this standard.

The GDC also failed to meet Standard 3 on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), with the PSA citing insufficient assurance across two of the four required outcomes. While acknowledging progress—such as improved EDI reporting and targeted training—the PSA noted ongoing gaps, including the absence of explicit references to discriminatory behaviour in fitness to practise guidance and incomplete EDI training for Council and Committee members by the end of the review period.

In its response, the GDC emphasised that it had met 16 of the 18 Standards and welcomed the PSA’s recognition of its strong performance in registration and education. The regulator highlighted achievements including clearing the backlog of overseas Dental Care Professional applications and completing procurement for a new provider of the Overseas Registration Examination, which will increase capacity from mid‑2026.

Chief Executive and Registrar Tom Whiting said the GDC “acknowledge[s] the areas where further work is needed” and remains committed to addressing concerns about fitness to practise timeliness and embedding EDI across its regulatory functions.

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