GDC updates July 2021
Annual Renewal: CPD statements are due by 28 August
The end of your CPD year is 31 July, and the deadline to make your CPD statement is 28 August. If you’ve already completed all of your CPD for this year, now is the time to make your annual or end of cycle CPD statement. You will need to make a statement, even if you have not been able to meet the minimum requirements due to COVID-19.
If you have a shortfall in CPD hours this year due to COVID-19, don’t worry we will take your exceptions circumstances into account. If you’ve been affected, you will need to make your CPD statement in the normal way. We will be in touch after the deadline has passed to let you know what you need to do next.
At of the start of July, there were around 48,000 dental care professionals yet to make a compliant statement. Of these, around 4,000 people still needed to make an end of cycle CPD statement, and around 10,000 needed to do more CPD hours to ensure compliance with the requirement to complete a minimum of 10 hours in every consecutive two-year period.
You might be looking for some flexibility to help you complete your CPD this year. If this is the case, you’ll want to look at the recent blog post by our Registration Operations Manager, Harina Patel, who explains the flexibility built into the Enhanced CPD scheme.
If you’re unsure about how many hours of CPD you need to do this year, please take a minute now to check the number you logged last year on your eGDC account, and the number of hours completed so far this year, to make sure you are in compliance by the 31 July.
The quickest and easiest way to make your statement is through eGDC. It includes personalised information on the number of CPD hours you will need to complete during your current CPD cycle. However, eGDC is not designed to work with any third-party applications, so we do not recommend using any third-party apps to upload your CPD hours.
To ensure your hours and declaration are submitted accurately, please make your annual or end of cycle CPD statement on eGDC at any time before the 28 August deadline.
Please get in touch if you have questions, or visit the website for CPD guidance.
Regulating healthcare professionals, protecting the public
We have supported the ambition to remove outdated and prescriptive legislation in favour of a modernised and flexible framework, in our response to government proposals set out in the now closed consultation, Regulating healthcare professionals, protecting the public.
While we have warmly welcomed the majority of the proposals, there are areas where we think more can be done to ensure the reformed framework is responsive to change and innovation, while bringing further enhancements to accountability, transparency and public protection. The pace of reform is an area of particular concern, as explained by the Chair, Dr William Moyes in his recent post.
Visit our website for more on regulatory reform.
More evidence and support needed for mental health and wellbeing
Member of our expert reference group and chair of the Probing Stress in Dentistry project in Northern Ireland, Roz McMullan, explores the results of our recent rapid evidence assessment of mental health in dentistry in her recently published blog post. Roz highlights the need for further research, and early recognition and signposting.
Meanwhile concerns about the impact the pandemic is having on dental practitioners, and how they are being supported have been raised by NHS Education for Scotland, on the release the results of a new survey, which indicates high rates of emotional exhaustion in the primary care team.
Please download a copy of the Mental Health Wellness in Dentistry Framework for further guidance and support.
CQC issues statement on direct-to-consumer orthodontics in England
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has issued a statement setting out the registration requirements for providers of direct-to-consumer orthodontics in England; we have welcomed this clarification.
You will find our recent statement on direct-to-consumer orthodontic treatment on our website. It includes information to support you when exercising your professional judgement, such as ensuring a full assessment of oral health, direct interaction with patients, and providing your full name to anyone receiving treatment.
We have also published patient-facing information, alongside a social media toolkit for those of you who would like to reach out and inform your patients of the things they should consider before deciding if this is the right treatment for them.
Calling on the dental team to update your equality data
We would like to encourage you to review and update your personal equality data.
The information you provide makes a vital contribution to our work on equality, diversity and inclusion, but that some of you may have concerns about sharing your personal data online. To alleviate these, our Research Officer, Marie-Jean Royer, has set out the reasons why equality data is important to everyone who works in dentistry, some of the recent improvements we’ve made to our equality monitoring form, and explains how your data is protected.
Please look for the equality monitoring form when you next log in to your eGDC account.
New appointment to the Audit and Risk Committee
We recently appointed Elizabeth Butler, Chartered Accountant, as the Independent Member of the GDC Audit and Risk Committee following a competitive recruitment process. You can find out more about this appointment on our website.