GDC Introduces Option To Pay ARF By Instalments
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- Published: Tuesday, 23 March 2021 09:04
- Written by Chris Tapper
- Hits: 1335
The General Dental Council has finally announced a quarterly Direct Debit scheme for payment of the Annual Retention Fee.
After the dental shutdown in early 2020, financially hard-pressed Dental Care Professionals were vociferous in calling for a payment by instalment scheme.
But today, the GDC has announced the scheme it says is “Designed to support dental professionals who pay their own fee by enabling them to spread the cost over the year with quarterly Direct Debits.”
“For dental care professionals (DCP) this works out as four payments of £28.50 and for dentists it is four payments of £170.”
The GDC says to “Take advantage of the option in 2021, DCPs need to log in to eGDC from early May and select the quarterly Direct Debit option no later than 31 May 2021. The regulator is working to get this new option set up and says it will be in touch with DCPs when they are able to sign up.”
The GDC’s Chief Executive and Registrar, Ian Brack, says:
“We know that many dental professionals want more flexibility in how they pay the ARF and so we will be introducing a pay by instalments option. Detailed feasibility work has been completed and work is underway to make the necessary changes to our systems to allow us to offer this to DCPs this year.
“We expect this work to be complete by early May and DCPs who want to pay quarterly will then need to sign up by 31 May. Detailed guidance will follow nearer the time.”
“Dentists who wish to pay their ARF by instalments will be able to select this option later in the year.”
Shareena Ilyas, Chair of the British Dental Association's Education, Ethics and the Dental Team Working Group said:
"The ability to pay by instalments is one of the basics any registrant should expect from their regulator. This represents much needed change from the GDC, and not before time.
"A single large annual payment has proved a real barrier for many dentists, particularly those just starting out. We were told change was impossible and we only got here by refusing to take no for an answer.
"This is good news that so many have long hoped for, and we await details on how the system will operate."
When asked in the spring of 2020 whether the GDC would introduce an emergency scheme for DCP’s hard hit financially, the GDC media department merely referred GDPUK back to a blog written by the GDC’s Executive Director, Strategy, Stefan Czerniawski on 8th April.
Mr Czerniawski wrote “Nevertheless, financial pressures remain very real. We understand that and we are hearing concerns very clearly both from individuals and representative bodies who are asking us to reduce or waive ARF payments this year.”
“We always want to keep the cost of regulation as low as possible, which is why we were delighted that we could reduce the ARF for dentists last year by 24%. But we get no funding from government – or anywhere else – and our financial reserves are limited, because we have no wish to be holding registrants’ money unnecessarily.”
“Virtually all our income comes from registrants, which puts very real limits on our ability to be flexible. But we are looking at what might be possible – for example in terms of an emergency instalment scheme – and will provide an update well before the beginning of the ARF round for dental care professionals in the summer.”
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