DT News - UK - DCPs risk removal from register over non-compliance

DCPs risk removal from register over non-compliance

All dental care professionals on the 2013-18 CPD cycle were required to submit a compliant CPD statement by 28 August 2018. (Photograph: Aaron Amat/Shutterstock)

Dental Tribune UK

Mon. 22 October 2018

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LONDON, UK: Nearly 900 UK-based dental care professionals (DCPs) could be at risk of removal from the register after failing to make a compliant continuing professional development (CPD) statement to the General Dental Council (GDC).

All DCPs on the 2013–18 CPD cycle, which concluded on 31 July 2018, were required to submit a compliant CPD statement by 28 August 2018. The GDC has reported, however, that there were almost 900 non-compliant DCPs after the deadline had passed and that the regulator was still trying to contact them.

A spokesperson for the British Dental Association said that it was encouraging dental practices and DCPs to immediately check whether any staff members had reached the end of their CPD cycle in July and, if so, that they had made an end-of-cycle CPD statement.

Non-compliant DCPs are likely to be taken off the register within the next few weeks if they do not act to remedy their situation, the spokesperson warned. If these DCPs continue to work in a dental practice once taken off the register, they will effectively be doing so illegally and be at risk of penalties and additional consequences.

The GDC stated that it was due to write to all those who had not made a statement and anyone who had made a non-compliant CPD statement to explain the options available for those who wished to remain on the register.

At the start of 2018, all UK-based dentists were required to adopt the new approach to CPD outlined by the GDC. From 1 August, this has applied to all DCPs in the country. Under this new CPD scheme, all dental professionals are required to complete a personal development plan, to spread verifiable hours more evenly across the five-year cycle and to keep a formal log of their CPD.