A dentist has been erased from the GDC register for submitting fake patient complaints as part of fitness to practise referrals against two other dental professionals.
The dentist admitted to submitting four documents to the GDC in total, claiming they were complaints against colleagues made by patients. The regulator called this ‘misleading’ and ‘dishonest’ as the dentist was ‘falsely representing the document as being a complaint from a patient, when it was not’.
The dentist was suspended and removed from the GDC register as a result. A handwriting expert was also consulted to verify that the registrant had written the letters of complaint.
During a fitness to practise hearing, the dentist said their actions were due to ‘unresolved interpersonal tensions and a sense of frustration, which I allowed to cloud my professional judgement’.
They also expressed remorse, saying they had ‘learned that personal conflict should never interfere with ethical responsibilities’. They added that the proceedings had ‘reinforced my appreciation of the responsibilities we carry not only towards patients but toward one another as colleagues’.
The Professional Conduct Committee concluded: ‘Your deliberately dishonest conduct placed colleagues at serious risk of harm, and you continue to pose a serious risk to colleagues and the public.’
Blue on blue referrals
In May, the GDC released statistics showing that fitness to practise referrals increased by 8% between 2023 and 2024.
While the largest amount of concerns were raised by the public (61%), reports from other members of the dental profession have consistently increased year on year. In 2024, these ‘blue on blue’ reports accounted for 9% of referrals, up from 8% in 2023 and 6% in 2022.
Professionals in London and the south east of England were most likely to have fitness to practise concerns raised against them. While making up only 14% of the register, they were the subject of 22% of concerns.
The 30% of Asian or Asian British dentists on the register also saw a disproportionately high number of concerns raised at 34%.
Younger dental professionals were found to be less likely to have concerns raised against them. One in five (21%) FtP concerns were raised against dentists aged 51 to 60.
Theresa Thorp, executive director of regulation at the GDC, said: ‘We’re focused on using this data to help us identify any issues of discrimination, bias or racism in the reporting or referral of concerns to us.’
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