BDA slams GDC proposal to raise the ARF by 64%

The chair of the British Dental Association's Principal Executive Committee, Mick Armstrong, met with GDC (General Dental Council) leaders and expressed his alarm at the dental regulator's plans for a 64% rise in the annual retention fee (ARF). 

The proposal for the fee rise, which was announced recently, would see dentists fees rise from £576 to £945.

Dentists have no choice but to pay in order for them to practise lawfully.

It also comes on the back of a highly critical Professional Standards Authority (PSA) report on the GDC.

Commenting on the proposed fee rise, Dr Armstrong said: 'The suggestion that the profession pay more to fund a council that has been shown unable to do its job properly is frankly astonishing.

'The rise would be unpalatable at the best of times, but it now appears that the profession is being asked to foot the bill for failure.'

The scale of the rise is unprecedented and is at odds with the actions of all other regulators.

The PSA (Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care) report concluded that the GDC had failed to meet seven out of 10 standards governing registrants' fitness to practise.

The BDA believes the GDC must investigate the underlying reasons for the Œsignificant increase in complaints about dental registrants.

It needs to work with the profession to determine their causes, the BDA believes, rather than raising dentists' annual retention fee.

The BDA will be raising these concerns with the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, as this rise is at odds with the principles contained in the 2011 white paper Enabling Excellence.

This requires regulators to minimise the financial burden on individual registrants.

Dr Armstrong continued: 'It's not just the huge rise in fees that has left the dental profession aghast, but, when dentists are expected to tolerate poor performance by the very body that is charged with the duty to assess their fitness to practise, we are justifiably outraged.

'The figure is, by a country mile, the highest fee charged by any comparable healthcare regulator.

'Some have managed to maintain or even reduce their annual retention fees, and also fared better in the PSA reports.

'Something just doesn't add up.'

The BDA will be consulting members for their views on the GDC's performance as well as the proposed increase in fees.

Favorite
Get the most out of your membership by subscribing to Dentistry CPD
  • Access 600+ hours of verified CPD courses
  • Includes all GDC recommended topics
  • Powerful CPD tracking tools included
Register for webinar
Share
Add to calendar