33% of Cases Referred To GDC Closed With No Action
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- Published: Thursday, 15 May 2025 18:28
- Written by Guy Tuggle
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Following the publication earlier this month of the GDC‘s Fitness to Practise report which revealed that 33% of cases in 2024 were closed by the case examiners with no action, indemnity provider Dental Protection is urging the General Dental Council (GDC) to review the assessment and triaging of cases in its fitness to practise processes.
Dr George Wright, Deputy Dental Director at Dental Protection (pictured) said: “The relatively high number of cases that are dispensed with at the case examiner stage with no action suggests that the triaging is still not right, and too many cases are going forward."
Dr Wright called for a more thorough assessment by the Assessment Team which, he said, could reduce the number of cases referred and reduce the number of dental professionals needlessly dragged through the highly stressful fitness to practise process.
“The data does not tell the whole story as to the frustrations and delays faced by dental professionals. It is disappointing that the case examiners did not meet the target of a decision within 13 working weeks in over 96% of cases in 2024" said Dr Wright.
“There is a clear need for improvement with our recent research involving members who have been investigated by the GDC finding that 82% of dentists reporting that it was the length of the investigation itself that impacted on their mental wellbeing the most.
“While we continue to campaign for the government to publish a timescale for reforming the out-of-date legislation that would give the GDC more discretion to close cases sooner, we believe the GDC needs to be more agile in getting resources in place given that this figure has not improved since 2022."
Dr Wright added that "we will continue to work with them to share ideas of where improvements could be made.”
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