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Caution over new dental complaints service
21st Jul 2006
Dental Protection director Kevin Lewis sounded a note of caution at the launch of the General Dental Council’s (GDC) Dental Complaints Service (DCS). Speaking to journalists at its launch at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London, he initially welcomed the news, saying: ‘The General Dental Council is to be congratulated on seeing the Dental Complaints Service through to its launch. Now the real work begins. ‘Anything that eliminates the need to involve lawyers must be beneficial. Until now, this was seen as the main option for patients seeking redress following private dentistry. Ultimately, it is the patients themselves who pay the true cost of litigation, and it is unsatisfactory that dental patients typically receive less than the lawyers who represent them. ‘Through the DCS, patients who are entitled to compensation will receive a greater share of the payments made by the protection/defence organisations or insurers, and they should receive it quicker, and with less confrontation and stress. We should all welcome that.’ But he added: ‘It is also true that we have expressed a number of concerns about the proposed operation of the service, particularly with regard to the need for it to be independent of the GDC, and the importance of ensuring transparency in the selection of its panel members. In both these respects the DCS must be welcomed as a work in progress, although I am hopeful that our continuing concerns will be addressed. ‘The threat of possible referral to the GDC for consideration under its Fitness to Practise procedures, unless dentists act upon panel recommendations is, we believe, unhelpful because it compromises the even-handed approach that characterises every successful complaints resolution system. ‘While we understand the GDC’s dilemma, the inherent problem is that the entire cost of running the DCS is met by dental registrants out of the Annual Retention Fee. Yet having wholly funded the system, registrants are forced to accept and implement panel recommendations, but patients are under no such obligation. ‘This is an opportunity to get things right from the outset and it is in nobody’s interests if this new system loses the confidence of the profession, or if the GDC is forced to spend its time and money resisting legal challenges. What is needed is an open, ongoing dialogue in which Dental Protection would look forward to playing a full part. We will continue to monitor the new service closely, and take any steps necessary to ensure that it offers equity for practitioner and patient alike.’
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