Make sure you’re registered

Dental care professionals (DCPs) must renew their GDC (General Dental Council) registration by the end of this month.

With the deadline looming, MDDUS, a UK-wide dental defence organisation, has moved to urge all healthcare professionals to ensure DCPs are registered with the GDC or patient care may be compromised.

Any DCPs who are not registered with their regulatory body for whatever reason cannot carry out duties associated with their role.

MDDUS has advised all practices to check that everyone within the team is fully registered ahead of the deadline.

Head of dental division at MDDUS, Aubrey Craig, said: 'From our experience, it is fairly common for DCPs to believe they have paid their ARF only to discover that the payment has failed.

'Often a simple change in personal information, such as home address or direct debit details, is to blame.

'If a direct debit is set up then it is crucial to ensure the mandate remains current and that bank details have not recently changed.

'We regularly receive calls once the deadline has passed asking for advice on steps to take when a DCP is not registered and whether or not they can still carry out their duties.'

If staff have failed to re-register, they will need to complete a form to apply for restoration to the DCP list.

Furthermore, they are required to have a medical examination and provide a character reference, as well as giving evidence they have completed the required amount of CPD (continuous professional development).

In the meantime they cannot carry out clinical work until they are re-registered.

Any DCPs who fail to make the payment on or before the 31 July deadline may be removed from the GDC’s register and will not be eligible to work.

A list of those people removed from the register will be circulated to UK Primary Care Trusts, health boards and indemnity providers to enable them to keep their records up to date.

Practices are advised to have a system in place to check that staff subscriptions with bodies such as the GDC and defence organisations are renewed on time.

The GDC website provides a secure web portal where registrants can manage their registration, pay fees and update personal information.

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