GDC failings move to Parliament
- Details
- Published: Thursday, 15 January 2015 07:33
- Written by News Editor
- Hits: 3351
The British Dental Association (BDA) has called on the Chair of the Commons Health Select Committee, Dr Sarah Wollaston MP, to institute an inquiry into the General Dental Council (GDC). Meanwhile Health Minister, Dr Dan Poulter, said he takes ‘a keen interest in the performance of the professional regulators’ and has raised the matter of the GDC’s performance with them.
The BDA has written to the Chair of the Commons Health Select Committee, Dr Sarah Wollaston MP, to make the case for an inquiry into the General Dental Council. The committee has been made aware of the BDA’s successful legal challenge but the inability of the judge to fully act and prevent the ARF hike due to the limits of the current laws in place.
On January 6, the General Medical Council gave oral evidence to the committee as part of its annual review in parliament. The Care Quality Commission and Nursing and Midwifery Council have similar accountability hearings, yet over the course of the 2010 parliament there has not been a single inquiry relating to dentistry, let alone a review of the regulator.
The flawed regulatory framework was set up in parliament and the BDA says it is now ‘exploring every parliamentary avenue to correct this perverse situation’. A regulator that fails critical tests, loses the confidence of those it regulates and is defeated in court should not be able to act with impunity. The Health Select Committee is one obvious body that could at least question the General Dental Council and raise awareness of its many failings before Members of Parliament.
The BDA says it won the legal challenge but it is now clear that the law needs to change. The BDA reiterated that it ‘will take the fight to the lawmakers and seek a comprehensive change to the regulatory framework’. “We will not rest until parliament acts on the General Dental Council,” the Association said.
Additionally the Health Minister, Dan Poulter MP, was asked what steps he was taking to ensure that the GDC ‘addresses concerns expressed about its performance by local dental committees’.
The Minister replied: “The General Dental Council is an independent statutory body constituted by order of the Privy Council. Ministers have no legal basis to intervene in the day to day running of the GDC. However, in my role as Minister I do have a keen interest in the performance of the professional regulators and take the opportunity to have regular contact with them, including the GDC. I have raised the matter of the GDC’s performance with them, following the publication of the review by the Professional Standards Authority. In addition, I spoke at a recent adjournment debate on this matter”.
You need to be logged in to leave comments.
Report