GDC 2020 Annual Report – Concerns Are Down
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- Published: Friday, 06 August 2021 21:53
- Written by Chris Tapper
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The General Dental Council received fewer concerns about registrants last year than in 2019, according to the regulator’s Annual Report for 2020.
The GDC said it received 1,134 new concerns in 2020, compared to 1,362 in 2019 – which represents an 18% reduction in concerns reported to it.
Of all the cases the GDC reviewed at initial assessment, a total of 81% were referred for assessment, while 18% of cases were closed, with 1% being referred to the NHS.
Although the number of concerns were down in 2020, the number of assessment decisions made last year were up compared to the previous year due to a carry forward of cases from 2019.
The GDC closed over half of the cases it dealt with in 2020, before being referred on to Case Examiners.
The regulator referred just 46% of cases it reviewed at the assessment stage on to Case Examiners, closing the remaining 54% of cases.
Only 37% of the total number of received cases progressed to a Case Examiner review.
Of the cases sent on to a Case Examiner review, “10% of the total were closed with no further action, 12% closed with advice, warning or undertakings and 15% were referred to a Practice Committee.”
“Of this 15%, 11% resulted in sanctions and 4% resulted in no further action” the report said.
The GDC said Case Examiners made a total of 455 decisions in 2020.
These decisions included cases that had been referred back to them by either the GDC or the dental professional’s defence team, before the case was heard by a Practice Committee.
The GDC said this was a 34% decrease in decisions made compared to 2019, in which Case Examiners made 691 decisions.
The report said the figures reflected the fall in fitness to practise cases received since 2018.
Of the 455 concerns Case Examiners examined in 2020, 60% of them were closed at that stage.
The report said “This resulted in 176 case examiner referrals to the Practice Committees, a 38% decrease compared to 2019.”
“Case Examiners also referred 23 of these cases to the Interim Orders Committee. This represented as an increase from 7% to 13% of cases that were referred to both the Practice Committees and the Interim Orders Committee.”
But in 2020, “The percentage of cases closed at the initial assessment stage fell from 29% to 19% (including those referred to the NHS) while the percentage of cases resulting in a hearing remained about the same as 2019, at 15%,” the GDC said.
The GDC said “We believe these changes are, at least in part, as a result of our efforts with the profession and the public to avoid inappropriate matters being raised with us and reflect the lower overall volume of cases received.”
Last year, 61 hearings were held for dentists and 31 for dental care professionals.
The GDC reported that 21% of dentists who went to hearings were erased from the register, while 39% of DCPs who had cases heard by a Practice Committee were erased.
The report went on “32% of dentists and 13% of DCPs did not receive a sanction as a result of their hearing (26% overall).
“30% of cases resulted in suspension and 8% in conditions being imposed. The proportions for these sanctions were the same for dentists and DCPs.”
The GDC’s full Annual Report and Accounts 2020 can be found here.
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