Time for regulators to cut red tape
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- Published: Tuesday, 29 December 2015 07:59
- Written by News Editor
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The dental regulators have said that the system they oversee is placing huge burdens on the profession. Dr Janet Williamson from the Regulation of the Dental Services Programme Board, has said that the bodies need to "think differently" to deliver for patients. Their report, on the future of dental service regulation, outlines steps to rationalise dental regulation, including needed action on data sharing, complaint management, quality improvement and communications.
The regulatory bodies, including the Care Quality Commission, the General Dental Council, the Department of Health and NHS England, acknowledge that ‘multiple jeopardy and duplication of effort is both wasteful and stressful and can have far reaching professional and personal consequences.’
The report says dentists feel over-regulated. A dentist might find themselves being investigated by the General Dental Council, who are concerned about fitness to practise; the Care Quality Commission may investigate the safety and quality of the practice, while the NHS may also question whether services are being delivered according to the regulations. This multiple intervention and potential duplication of effort is both wasteful and stressful and can have far reaching professional and personal consequences for those whose performance is a cause of concern.
Dr Janet Williamson says: “There is a need to think differently and ensure that any regulation is focused where improvement is required and where we can measure a difference in encouraging improvement. For the first time ever, the regulators have met together over the last 12months to discuss how the burden of regulation in dentistry might be reduced, whilst still providing the protection that the public rightly expect. We have consulted widely with stakeholders, particularly with the dental profession and patient representatives. This report analyses the current position and proposes agreed actions to enable dental regulation to be more coherent, more streamlined and more effective in the future. Each of the regulators is committed to collaborative effort to improve dental regulation for the benefit of both patients and the profession.”
The BDA has stressed the urgency of rationalisation and called on all the parties involved to press ahead with implementing the action plan. Mick Armstrong, Chair of the British Dental Association said: “The proposals set out in this paper are simple common sense. As we've long argued no one wins from overregulation, and removing these multiple jeopardies could start lifting a huge weight from the shoulders of this profession. As low-risk practitioners we're forced to juggle competing demands from some agencies that frankly don't understand their own roles and responsibilities. This red tape hasn't made patients safer. It has, as this report rightly acknowledges, bred huge inefficiencies and made stress at work the default for colleagues.”
He continued: “GDC overreach and underperformance has been a key driver behind this waste and stress. While this report talks tough on 'duplication of effort', it seems unlikely to curb our regulator's bid to be the 'one stop shop' for everything from complaints to quality improvement. Any progress requires clear roles and tight remits, and the GDC can be no exception. Every dentist will agree it's time to 'think differently' on regulation. Now we want to see real evidence that all the parties involved can turn slogans into real gains for practitioners and the public.
The full report can be read here.
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triple jeopardy
I had a remedial notice from the area team, based on loose accusations of poor record keeping ( from a GDC panel member no doubt). I disagreed and appealed it.That was 1 year ago and the area team appeal process?
they sent the report to the GDC!!! so that somebody else would do their dirty laundry for them.
I got the same records audited with 59 parameters per record and received a 97% pass rate.
There is no one to criticise when it comes to NHS England.
If they actually listened to the dentists on the receiving end then the Triumvirate may actually save a lot of stress, money and stop dental suicides.
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