Exclusive Fitness to practise investigations are dragging on for up to nine years and experts say the process is placing ‘extraordinary’ strain on dental professionals, GDPUK has found.
Figures from the GDC show one investigation which finally concluded in 2025 had gone on for total of 474 weeks, or nine years and one month.
Another investigation which ended in 2024 had lasted 426 weeks - eight years and two months - a Freedom of Information (FOI) request reveals.
The FOI response from the GDC also disclosed that a total of 375 cases which finished in 2025 lasted at least one year. The average time taken for cases to conclude was 51 weeks.
Experts say the delays were causing ‘intense stress’ for individuals and place a huge strain on their professional and personal lives.
The GDC has promised to improve the fitness-to-practise process and in June, their executive director of regulation Theresa Thorp, acknowledged that cases were ‘too long,’ felt ‘overly complex’ and were creating feelings of mistrust and fear.
These figures cover the total length of time from a fitness-to-practise concern being received by a regulator to it being resolved, either at the assessment, case examiner or hearing stage.
The regulator told GDPUK that some of the longest delays were outside their ‘direct control’ and involved factors such as needing to await the outcome of NHS counter fraud investigations or criminal proceedings.
But dental experts told us the GDC needed to do more to support professionals during this time - and urged them try to find a way to get round the ‘outdated’ processes which caused investigations to be so protracted.
Martin Skipper, head of policy at the LDC Confederation, a representational trade association for local dental committees in England, said: ‘The pressure that it puts on an individual is just extraordinary because it’s not just their professional life which is under strain, it’s every aspect of their personality which is under strain.
‘To not have certainty or clarity for nine years or for four years or even for one year is really not appropriate. What we do recommend, no matter how long a process takes, is frequent supportive communication from the GDC to all registrants.’
‘They should all be treated with absolute dignity and respect, the same dignity and respect that the regulator expects dentists to treat their patients with.’
The figures also show that 399 cases which concluded in 2024 had gone on for at least one year, with the average case lasting 51 weeks – the same as 2025.
Speaking generally on the issue of long delays, Eddie Crouch, chair of the British Dental Association told us: ‘Anyone who is going through the whole process through to a fitness to practise, the time periods are just completely unacceptable and very stressful for the people going through.
‘It’s not fair for the patients they’re treating because if you’ve got a clinician who’s coming into work every day still wondering about where this complaint is actually going, it’s not conducive to providing good and safe dental care.’
Dr Simon Thackeray, president of the British Association of Private Dentistry and practising dentist in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, said: ‘There are cases coming through now which have been three or four years in the making and sometimes there will then be a no case to answer but that registrant has then had four years of intense pressure and intense stress worrying what the GDC might do. I do have some sympathy with the GDC trying to do their best with some clunky, outdated legislation.’
The GDC does not have a set target for how long fitness to practice investigations - including the hearing stage - should take. But it aims to complete the investigation stage – before it is considered by a case examiner for a hearing - within seven months, for at least 75% of cases.
A GDC spokesman said: ‘We know that fitness-to-practise investigations can take too long, feel overly complex, and cause real fear and distress. Our focus remains firmly on reducing that fear and delays in the process, and improving the experience for everyone involved, where we can, without compromising patient safety.
‘The longest cases reflect a range of factors that are largely outside our direct control, such as the need to await the outcome of related NHS or counter-fraud investigations and criminal court proceedings before we can proceed, legal challenges and appeals including High Court reviews, and additional concerns identified during the course of an investigation. In some cases, we may need to get documents translated or gain input from clinical advisers, and these steps — along with some registrants not engaging with the process — can all lead to delays.’