The General Dental Council (GDC) has opened the annual renewal period to appear on the dental register.
To renew registration, the regulator is asking dentists in particular to:
- Make their annual or end-of-cycle CPD statement
- Declare they have, or will have, appropriate indemnity in place
- Pay their Annual Retention Fee (ARF).
In addition the GDC claims the quickest and easiest way to complete the annual renewal is through its eGDC.
‘Each year we see quite large numbers of professionals leaving it very late to pay the ARF,’ GDC executive director, registration and corporate resources, Gurvinder Soomal, said.
‘We all know that missing the deadline will result in a break in registration.
‘And therefore the ability to practise is interrupted.
‘With such high stakes, I’d like to encourage dentists to complete their Annual Renewal as early as possible.’
Dental register fee drop
Despite only receiving 79 responses to the consultation, the dental regulator has decided to push on with these plans.
Indeed the GDC says it aims to develop a coherent system for resolving and routing complaints effectively.
‘We are proud of the progress made towards delivering what we set out to achieve through Shifting the balance,’ GDC head of policy and research, Rebecca Cooper, said after the consultation earlier this year.
‘But we still have some distance to cover to reach our objective of a better, fairer system of dental regulation.
‘This strategy is about fulfilling that objective.
‘I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of those who took the time to tell us their view on our plans.
‘Those views will help us to shape our direction and decision-making for the next three years.
‘We look forward to sharing the finalised strategy later this year.’
Plans for the next three years
In its consultation the GDC proposed decreasing the ARF for dentists, with a small increase for dental care professionals.
Furthermore the GDC proposed:
- An ARF drop of £150 to around £740 for dentists
- An ARF increase of around £4 to £120 for dental care professionals.
‘The GDC is committed to changing the regulatory landscape,’ explains Ian Brack, GDC chief executive and registrar.
‘This is for the reasons we identified in Shifting the balance.
‘The priorities we identified in that document remain at the core of our ambition for the next three years.’
