Old "Boys" Network to the Rescue at GDC?
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- Published: Thursday, 31 July 2025 06:56
- Written by Peter Ingle
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The new GDC chair will take over from Lord Toby Harris at the end of August 2025. As reported in GDPUK, Dr Helen Phillips has exactly the kind of regulator class background that GDC watchers have come to expect. To date, registrants know little about the direction in which she will take the GDC.
In a short news item on the GDC website, Dr Phillips was making all the right noises, saying: "My ambition is that dental professionals feel a sense of pride – never fear – in being regulated by a trusted, effective, proportionate regulator that embodies our values of being respectful, transparent, inclusive and purposeful.”
All of which sounds fairly reassuring. However a recent Freedom of Information request raises some questions about Dr Phillips’ background, her route to Wimpole Street, and in turn, her intentions towards the profession.
Dentist Dominic O’Hooley, has asked about the strength of the links between Dr Phillips and former GDC chair Dr William (Bill) Moyes, as well as a current senior GDC employee.
Dr O’Hooley has found out that whist on the board of the Legal Services Board in 2015, Dr Phillips worked closely with William Moyes. To add to the ‘it’s a small world’ feeling, she also worked closely for some years with Mr Terry Babbs. Mr Babbs is currently chair of the Finance and Performance Committee of the GDC.
For those with short memories, William Moyes was the combative GDC chair who amongst other milestones in his time pushed through the record breaking increase in ARF, despite losing a High Court case challenging it. He denied that there was such a thing as defensive dentistry, and spoke in favour of the Lidlisation of dentistry provision. He was also at the helm when the GDC took out full page advertisements in national newspapers encouraging patients to by-pass local resolution, and complain directly to the GDC about their dental teams.
The FOI poses three questions to the GDC.
- Whether during the recruitment process these relationships were disclosed to the GDC.
- If Mr Babbs was involved in the recruitment process.
- The identity of the references provided by Dr Phillips during the recruitment process.
This may all be a case of coincidence, but particularly in view of William Moyes’ toxic legacy, these questions need to be answered, if registrants are to have any confidence in either Dr Phillips or those who selected her.
According to the What do they Know website, the GDC should respond to Dr O’Hooley by August 12th.
In the GDC news item announcing her appointment Lord Harris spoke about Dr Phillips being equipped to, “ensure we continue building trust with the professions." In the same piece Dr Phillips specifically mentioned her ambition to lead a trusted and transparent regulator. The GDC does not have the best record in responding to FOI requests. It now faces a choice between properly answering Dr O’Hooley’s FOI request, or making a mockery of their incoming Chair’s vision.
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