DT News - UK - GDC proposes reduced annual retention fee for dentists

Dental Tribune UK

Tue. 14 May 2019

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LONDON, UK: The General Dental Council (GDC), the UK-wide statutory regulator of dentists and dental professionals, has commenced an open consultation regarding its future corporate strategy. Among the proposals put forward is a reduction in the annual retention fee (ARF) for dentists, with a slight increase for dental care professionals.

The ARF is a fee that all registered UK-based dentists and dental care professionals must pay each year to remain on their respective registers. In its consultation, which was launched on 8 May, the GDC has recommended that the ARF for dentists should be decreased from £890 to somewhere in the range of £730 to £750, while the ARF for dental care professionals should be increased from £116 to between £120 and £130.

“We cannot know the precise level of the ARFs until later in the year, when the professions, partners and the public have had their say on the strategy,” wrote Dr William Moyes, Chair of the GDC, in a foreword to the consultation.

“Our desire, and intention, is that the fee should lie at the bottom of these bands. However, until the strategy and the associated detailed planning is finalised, it would be misleading to guarantee this,” he continued.

In addition to these proposed ARF changes, the GDC’s consultation will look to cover a range of strategic aims designed to create a regulatory system that protects patients, uses evidence and research to guide and develop models for enforcement action, and enables patients and the public to raise concerns with the agency best placed to resolve them effectively and without unnecessary delay.

“We have come a long way toward our goal of achieving a better, fairer system of dental regulation, but we have a great deal more to do,” said Ian Brack, Chief Executive and Registrar of the GDC, in a press release regarding the consultation.

“This consultation provides an opportunity for people to have their say on those objectives as well as the priority and resourcing we afford to each. I hope that opportunity is taken up and as many people as possible give their views,” Brack added.

The consultation, detailed in a document titled Corporate Strategy 2020–2022: Working with the Dental Team for Public Safety and Confidence, is open until 30 July.

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