Thousands within dentistry are calling on the General Dental Council (GDC) to make its next chair a dental professional.
In a petition kicked off by the British Association of Private Dentistry (BAPD), it called for a change in the regulator’s structure.
As a result, the association has now written to the GDC with the request. This comes as current GDC chair, William Moyes, announces he is set to step down by next year.
Protect the public
‘As our petition demonstrates, the inherent bias, flawed selection panel selection process, and disastrous appointment to the GDC chair will not be accepted should the process be repeated,’ the letter states.
‘Your duty as a regulator is to protect the public. We politely submit that in order to achieve this, a dental professional should be the chair of the GDC.’
It adds: ‘It is vital that the subsequent appointment process has a central tenet of restoring the confidence of the dental profession in its regulator; only by a dental professional taking the chair can this be achieved.’
Additionally, it highlighted that more than 8,600 dental professionals signed the petition.
Better understanding
Speaking when the petition was launched, Dominic O’Hooley – who started the campaign of behalf of the BAPD – said the move will mean the profession is ‘better served’.
‘For me, the first step to a reborn right-touch GDC has to be a dental professional as chair,’ he said.
‘Only by having a wet-fingered colleague at the helm, can our regulator gain true understanding of our complex professional lives.
‘Then will they start to realise that a dental profession that trusts the fairness and equanimity of its regulator means patients will be better served too.’
Mr O’Hooley also believes that urgent change will help to empower a currently ‘demoralised’ profession.
The full letter can also be read here.
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