COVID-19 Will Be ‘Taken Into Account’ If Concerns Are Raised About Registrants
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- Published: Tuesday, 14 December 2021 07:01
- Written by Chris Tapper
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Dental Protection has welcomed a joint statement from the UK’s statutory health and care regulators, which reiterates their commitment to take the COVID-19 pandemic into account when assessing complaints about registrants.
The statement was signed by the General Dental Council and General Medical Council as well as six other regulators, including the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
Surprisingly, the General Dental Council has not yet posted the joint statement on its own website.
The General Medical Council, Nursing and Midwifery Council, General Pharmaceutical Council and the Health and Care Professions Council all had the statement featured prominently and accessibly on their websites, yet the GDC did not, GDPUK discovered, on Monday 13th December.
The omission appears to be at odds with the dental regulator’s recent admission that the results from a survey of dental professionals and stakeholders on their perceptions of the GDC “Don’t make comfortable reading.”
A reiteration of reassurances from the dental regulator on its own website may have been welcomed by registrants, who associated the words ‘fear’ and ‘aggressive’ with the GDC in its perceptions survey.
The joint statement that the GDC signed up to said “The regulators of UK health and social care professionals have reiterated their support for staff working together to tackle the ongoing pandemic and seasonal pressure on services.”
“We know that registrants will be making difficult decisions around care provision in very challenging circumstances; that context is understood and will be considered by regulators.”
The statement went on “We recognise that the individuals on our registers may feel anxious about how context is taken into account when concerns are raised about their decisions and actions in very challenging circumstances.”
“Where a concern is raised about a registered professional, it will always be considered on the specific facts of the case, taking into account the factors relevant to the environment in which the professional is working. We would also take account of any relevant information about resource, guidelines or protocols in place at the time.”
Dental Protection said “The renewed GDC commitment would be well received, but must stand the test of time.”
“A survey of the organisation’s members showed that two in five dentists (40%) said fear of investigations arising from difficult decisions made during Covid-19, or disruption to care, was having most impact on their mental wellbeing.”
“Separately, the GDC has also developed supplementary advice to support case examiners in considering factors relating to the impact of Covid-19 on a dental professional’s ability to deliver care,” a spokesperson for Dental Protection said.
Dr Raj Rattan, Dental Director at Dental Protection said “We are pleased that the GDC, alongside other health and social care regulators, has taken this step to again reassure dental professionals.”
“Throughout this period, dental professionals have told us about a range of issues that have been impacting their mental wellbeing - from concern for their patients, the health of their family, friends and colleagues, the impact of loss of income, and the challenges of adapting to new ways of working.
“There has been a growing concern about the risk of regulatory investigation, and how actions and clinical interventions may be perceived in any future investigation if insufficient consideration is given to the impact of the pandemic. The risk is that hindsight bias is real because memories fade over time and it is important to safeguard against this. al
“Ongoing reassurance from the GDC on how the context of the Covid-19 pandemic will be taken into account, alongside the supplementary advice developed for its case examiners, will therefore go some way towards easing these fears and we are glad the GDC have heeded our calls for this.
“Recognising that by the very nature of dental care, a complaint and subsequent investigation can arise several years after the event, it is crucial that the GDC’s guidance stands the test of time, lest the very real pressures of the Covid-19 pandemic and the ensuing disruption of care be forgotten.
“We will continue to monitor this closely to ensure that dental professionals are protected.”
The GDC did post an earlier joint statement in January 2021.
The latest full joint statement can be found on the General Medical Council website here.
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