GDC Acts Quickly Avoiding Dental Nursing Crisis
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- Published: Wednesday, 09 August 2023 07:59
- Written by Peter Ingle
- Hits: 2406
Yes, you are reading GDPUK.
It is a delight to be able to write something positive about the GDC, and recently they demonstrated that they could act quickly, use common sense, and put patients first. In what may become an example of right touch regulation, a potential crisis was averted.
Ian Mills, a high profile dentist and Past Dean of FGDP(UK), tweeted that the GDC had recently stated that dental nurses needed to cease all clinical duties between qualification and registration. This had apparently been the answer to a recent enquiry made to the GDC. The justification was that at that specific time nurses were no longer training, nor were they yet registered. As a result they did not fall into either of the categories allowed to carry out dental nursing. To emphasise that this was a serious matter, there were threats of criminal prosecution for those who did continue to work between qualifying and being added to the register. There have been reports of the GDC taking a surprisingly long time to complete the process to add newly qualified nurse’s names to the register. Compliance with the recent advice would be very disruptive to patient care, and economically challenging for dental nurses and practices. In general it was previously assumed that nurses would carry on working in this period.
Officially informed by @GDC_UK that dental nurses must cease all clinical duties between qualification and registration as “no longer in training & not registered”. Threats of criminal prosecution if continue to work. 🤦🏻 @TheBDA @EddieCrouch @ChrisGroomb @SBDNuk @LordTobySays
— Ian Mills (@ruarikeir) August 2, 2023
Later the same day, Ian Mills tweeted once more, asking the GDC how in the midst of an access crisis their policy was protecting patients.
Meanwhile others had commented on the news. BDA Chair, Eddie Crouch commented that “the lack of flexibility and common sense is astounding.” He wondered if the GDC would say that they were “bound by legislation.” Stephen Henderson, Head of the Dental Division at MDDUS began his comment with a one word sentence: “Nonsense.”
The GDC responded promptly to Ian Mills, saying that they understood the concerns and were looking into the issue “as a matter of priority.”
Keeping their promise, the next day the GDC posted that they had published a statement clarifying the position. Clarification on trainee dental nurses and registration (gdc-uk.org) It made clear that with certain reasonable provisos, newly qualified dental nurses could work while their registration was processed. Ian Mills thanked Ross Scales, GDC Head of Upstream Regulation who had stepped in to resolve the issue. There had even been an apology to the nurse who had been misinformed.
A day later the GDC were able to post a photo of their representatives meeting trainee dental nurses in Perth, with everyone smiling broadly.
We know from a variety of sources that the GDC are avid readers of GDPUK. They do not like a lot of what they see, and as a result their sizeable engagement department will not engage with us. But as we know you are reading at the GDC, please can we request some more positive news from you. It would be a pleasure to report it.
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