Intro to GDC - Some quick information about GDC PDF

Preview

Summary

Some quick information about GDC...

Description

GDC 14 September 2020

11:01

To understand the role of the GDC: • What is the GDC?

https://www.gdc-uk.org/about-us • What does the GDC say about professional and student standards? https://www.gdc-uk.org/information-standards-guidance/standards-and-guidance/standards-for-the-dental-team • What does the GDC say about fitness to practice? https://www.gdc-uk.org/about-us/what-we-do/fitness-to-practise • What behavioural standards are expected of dentists?

https://standards.gdc-uk.org/pages/principle9/principle9.aspx • What are the consequences of contravention? https://www.gdc-uk.org/raising-concerns/raising-concerns-about-dental-treatment/should-i-raise-a-concern/ftpcase-studies https://www.gdc-uk.org/raising-concerns/handling-concerns-about-dental-practice/hearings-and-decisions

• Why is it important to work within your scope of practice? • What are the differences in scope of practice between dental professionals?

Answer to first three questions:

Answer to last 4 questions:

Behavioural standards for dentists

What is GDC? • GDC is the organisation which regulates dental care professionals. It is the regulator of over 110,000 members of dental team. It sets standards for dental care professionals, investigates complaints about dental professional's fitness to practise and works to ensure the quality of dental education.

You have a responsibility as a professional to behave in a way that reflects the standards expected by the GDC. Patients have their own expectations of what they expect from the dental team. Persistent failure to follow these principles can have you removed from the register which means you are unable to perform as a dental professional.

https://www.gdc-uk.org/about-us

What does the GDC say about professional and student standards? • GDC sets out the standard of conduct, ethics and performance for the dental care professionals. There are nine principles that need to be followed by both professionals and students to meet their standard which are as follows: 1. Put patients’ interests first 2. Communicate effectively with patients 3. Obtain valid consent 4. Maintain and protect patients’ information 5. Have a clear and effective complaints procedure 6. Work with colleagues in a way that is in patients’ best interests 7. Maintain, develop and work within your professional knowledge and skills 8. Raise concerns if patients are at risk 9. Make sure your personal behaviour maintains patients’ confidence in you and the dental profession https://www.gdc-uk.org/information-standards-guidance/standards-and-guidance/standards-for-the-dental-team

What does the GDC say about fitness to practise? • Fitness to practise means having appropriate skills, knowledge, character and health to practice their profession safely and effectively. It does not only include clinical performance or health but also includes any actions which can affect public confidence in dental professionals and something that is not related to professional practice like committing criminal acts. GDC investigates on the following points to find out if a dental professional is fit to practise: 1. serious or repeated mistakes in clinical care, for example mistakes in diagnosis or dental procedure. 2. failure to examine a patient properly, to secure a patient’s informed consent before treatment, keep satisfactory records, or to respond reasonably to a patient’s needs 3. not having professional indemnity insurance 4. cross infection issues (for example, using dirty clinical equipment during treatment) 5. serious breaches of a patient’s confidentiality 6. indications of a criminal offence including fraud, theft or dishonesty by a dental professional 7. poor health or a medical condition that significantly affects a dental professional’s ability to treat patients safely.

Some good Extra Information

To be exported Page 3

The way you behave should not only be taken into account in your professional role, but also in your personal life. Any behaviour which is considered negative can have an affect on the way you are viewed as a health care professional and also reflect badly on the profession as a whole as you are a registered member.

Consequences of contravention

‘the act of doing something that a law or rule does not allow’ Dictionary.cambridge.org. 2020. CONTRAVENTION | Meaning In The Cambridge English Dictionary. [online] Available at:

[Accessed 13 September 2020]. The GDC are automatically notified if a registrant has partaken in criminal activity or even cautioned in the UK or abroad. It is the responsibility of the registrant to tell the GDC themselves if they have in the past or presently been involved in criminal activity. This will be investigated by the GDC and they will decide if any further action is to be taken. If you decide to not disclose this kind of information, this can result in worse consequences than if you were transparent, as the GDC see this as dishonest. In summary any form contravention should be avoided, whether serious or minor as this can affect your place on the GDC register and also affect your professional and personal reputation and also that of the entire dental profession.

Scope of practice and why is this important The GDC have produced a booklet of guidance for dental care professionals which outlines their individual scope of practice. Scope of practice is the tasks you are legally aloud to carry out within the role you have trained in. It has been set out to ensure there is clear guidance for registrants, to ensure safe effective practice in the best interest of your patients.

Differences in scope of practice in the dental team

Each role within the dental team plays a key role in the smooth running of the dental team. To have differences in scope of practice outlined is a good way to ensure continuity of care and ensure safety of patients. For example, the difference between a dental nurses role and the dentist is very different, but each role requires skills from both individuals to carry out dental treatment on a patient. It is also important for dental therapists to be aware of their scope of practice in comparison to a dentist, for example they are able to extract deciduous teeth on children, but not extract teeth on adult patients with permanent dentition. A referral from a dentist is also needed occasionally for more complex treatment. Failure to stick within your scope of practice could have a detrimental effect on your career, such as litigation against you from patients and even colleagues. Although, the scope of practice of the dental team has not been updated since 2013 and is due to be updated, therefore it is important for all DCP’s regularly check for updates on the GDC website.

• This forms one part of the 9 principles laid out by GDC. • The principle dictates that, "the personal behaviour of dental health practitioners maintains the confidence/trust of patients' in the individual and the dental profession"… . • This helps to ensure the regulation and professionalism of dental health professionals and also allows them to meet the expectations of trust and confidentiality of patients. • Here is a link directly to GDC guidance: https://standards.gdc-uk.org/pages/principle9/principle9.aspx

• All further guidance given regarding professional conduct is guided by this dogma. • Below I have mentioned the key points. Dental health practitioners: 1. Should ensure that their conduct within & outside of work should always help to maintain the public trust in the dental profession. This encompasses: - Treating everyone with respect and dignity in line with the law. - Don’t make derogatory comments about team members, especially in front of patients. - Be extremely cautious when publishing things which could affect a patient's or the public's trust in yourself or the dental profession.

- Should know how to keep boundaries with patients and should not take advantage of their position as a dental professional in their relationship with patients.

2. Should ensure protection of patients and colleagues (using best practise) from risks, such as their own health, conduct or performance. - If a dental professional suspects, that patients may be at risk because of the above reasons then they should consult a suitably qualified colleague immediately and follow advice on how to put the patients interests first. - Dental professionals would rely on self-assessment of the risk they pose to patients. If concerned they should seek occupational health advice or other appropriate advice as soon as possible.

3. Have an obligation to inform the GDC if they are subject to any criminal proceedings, or a regulatory finding is made against them anywhere in the world. - This includes: fitness to practice procedures of other healthcare regulators and also if you are placed on a barred list held by either the Disclosure and Barring Service or Disclosure Scotland.

4. If they are subject to a relevant formal or informal enquiry, they are required to fully comply with the investigating body providing all details with truthful information.

• • • • • • •

- This includes fitness to practice procedures. - The relevant bodies include: Commissioners of health; other healthcare regulators; Hospital Trusts carrying out any investigation; the coroner or Procurator Fiscal acting to investigate a death; any other regulatory body; the Health and Safety Executive; and any solicitor, barrister or advocate representing patients or colleagues.

The GDC usually considers the following types of cases: • • • •

Criminal offences. Professional misconduct. Health. Performance.

• • • • •

Some examples include: Serious or repeated mistakes in patient care. Failure to respond reasonably to a patient's needs, including referring for further investigations where necessary. Violence, sexual assault or indecency. Discrimination against patients, colleagues and others. Serious breaches of a patient's confidentiality.

Hearings and Outcome Depending on the type of misconduct or offence which has occurred the outcomes can vary, the GDC investigates complaints on a case by case basis. • Firstly, once a concern about a dental professional has been looked into by Case Examiners.

• Case examiners will decide whether there is a case. • The GDC will hold formal public hearings into cases about dental professionals. • The case is then referred to one of the Practice Committees depending on the type of case, and a hearing is held. The practise committees include: The Professional Conduct Committee (PCC) - they decide whether or not a dental professional's fitness to practise is impaired

To be exported Page 4

based on proven facts. The PCC has the power to impose sanctions. The Professional Performance Committee (PPC)- they handle cases of consistently poor dental professional performance . The Health Committee (HC) - they deal with cases where the dental professional's fitness to practise is impaired by health reasons. The Interim Orders Committee (IOC) - they possess powers which allow them to impose interim measures of suspension or place conditions upon a dental professional before a full inquiry. Depending on the outcome this suspension may be renewed or revok ed later.

Outcome Here is a List of sanctions that the GDC can impose: • Reprimand: The appointed committee will give a statement of disapproval, but the dental professional in question, would still be fit to practise with no restrictions and so no other action would to be taken. • Conditions: This is where restrictions are placed on the dental professionals registration for a set amount of time . - Conditions are tailored to fit specific circumstances however, they generally follow a common format, w hich often involves:

-The dental professional undertaking further training to give the GDC evidence to prove that they are taking steps to improve. -The conditions are usually reviewed within a certain time. • Suspension: The Committee can suspend the dental professional’s registration. This means that the individual in question cannot work as a dental professional for that set period of time. • Erasure: This is the most extreme sanction as it removes a dental professionals name from the register. Which means that they can no longer work in dentistry in the UK.

Here is a link to this Information directly available from the GDC website: https://www.gdc-uk.org/raising-concerns/handlingconcerns-about-dental-practice/hearings-and-decisions

To be exported Page 5...