DT News - UK - Dental professionals to be granted extensions in fitness to practise proceedings

Dental Tribune UK

Thu. 12 September 2019

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LONDON, UK: Dental Protection, the world’s leading protection organisation for doctors, dentists and healthcare professionals, has recently welcomed proposed reforms that would allow dental professionals more time to provide information when facing a fitness to practise (FtP) hearing relating to a clinical concern. The organisation is now calling for the extension to apply also to non-clinical cases.

Dental professionals currently have 28 days to provide written observations to allegations made against them. Responding to allegations within that period, however, can be extremely challenging, and the clinician or his or her representative often needs more time to consider the concerns fully and to draft substantive observations.

The General Dental Council (GDC) has consulted on changes to the timescales for the Rule 4 process which would allow for a further 14-day extension. According to the GDC, the extension will usually only be granted in cases involving clinical concerns. Dental Protection argues that the changes should also be applied to non-clinical cases, as dental professionals often need more time to respond to allegations, particularly where there is a health issue or where there have been serious allegations involving probity.

“We have been working with the GDC to introduce a range of reforms that will speed up the overall investigation process. The time between a dental professional first receiving a letter from the GDC and eventually being told the outcome is often unnecessarily long and stressful,” said Dr Raj Rattan, MBE, Dental Director at Dental Protection. “There are however parts of the process which should not be rushed and where it is vital that the dentist and our dento-legal advisers and lawyers have enough time to gather vital evidence. We therefore strongly support the proposal that requests for 14-day extensions will usually be given,” he continued.

Rattan believes that more clarity is needed on how the GDC will decide on who is deemed eligible for receiving an extension. The organisation would therefore like the GDC to publish the criteria that it will adopt when considering extensions. “The GDC must also make it abundantly clear that the granting of an extension at the Rule 4 stage will not prevent a subsequent extension being granted later in the FtP process,” he concluded.

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