As a dental care professional, it can be easy to feel as though your voice is lost among the crowd and not often heard. Thankfully, with the GDC making commitments to their Corporate Strategy for 2023–2025, there is now an opportunity – the first of many, in fact – to get involved and provide feedback on the proposed changes.
The Corporate Strategy for 2023–2025 is a process being undertaken by the GDC, which aims to support dental professionals to deliver high levels of safe and effective dental care. As stated on the GDC website: We protect the public by ensuring that dental professionals are well-trained, and deliver care to high standards, supported by a regulatory approach which enables prevention of harm, and lifelong learning. In other words, the shift in regulations will see us meeting new standards which will enable us to provide better and more effective care for our patients, with increased education on the prevention of harm, and additional support in further training. At the same time, there will also be increased understanding of the ways that a dental professional’s wellbeing can influence and benefit patient care.
Over the next two years, the Strategy will see numerous consultations taking place, wherein proposed changes will be presented and dental care professionals – both qualified and unqualified – will be able to have their say and provide valuable feedback via the GDC feedback form (links below). The first of these consultations is the new Scope of Practice Consultation, which is open for feedback from now until 11th May 2023.
This new SOP will focus on providing improved support for professional decision-making and will encourage ways of working which prevent harm. There will also be a look at moving the regulations away from designated task lists and instead towards dental professionals taking responsibility for the assessment of their scope of practice, based upon the boundaries of their own role.
So, why get involved?
The point of the consultation is to make sure that these proposed changes are the right direction to move in. By getting involved and providing feedback, you are ensuring that the changes that are eventually implemented are effective, and that they will help rather than hinder the dental care profession. Whether you love the proposal and want to show your support, or you see areas that could be improved, now is your chance to speak up and be heard by the GDC – to help mould the future of dentistry.
You can access the proposed SOP and the feedback form via this link: https://gdc.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/scope-of-practice-consultation.
The site also contains links to other useful information sources.
Remember, the aim of these consultations is to give us a voice, which is something we have all wanted for a long time – so don’t waste the opportunity! By getting involved and reading through the documents, and by leaving your valuable feedback for the GDC, you will be helping to improve the way we will work in the future. It’s your time to make a change, and it starts with a click of that link above.
We will be hosting a free CPD webinar on Scope of Practice. Click here for more information.
By Natasha Garthwaite
