Reporting unfitness to practise
As part of our duty to protect the public, we have the power to take action by either removing or restricting a dentist's or dental care professional's registration if they fall seriously short of the high standards expected. Our powers are given to us by Parliament. They cover all registered dentists and dental care professionals whether working in the NHS or in private practice.
We can consider cases if a registrant's fitness to practise may be impaired due to their:
We look carefully at every allegation we receive. The action we can take may range from an advice letter to removing or restricting a dental professional's registration.
When patients approach us with a concern and are unsure who can help, we advise them who can help. This includes reference to practice based procedures and paths which do not involve the GDC at all. When a patient decides to raise a concern with us they need to provide us with certain information. Allegations are then dealt with following the three stages of our fitness to practise procedures which are designed to protect patients and to be fair.
If you have any queries about our fitness to practise procedures or wish to raise a concern yourself, please contact Fitness to Practise:
General Dental Council, 44 Baker Street, London W1U 7AL
Email us: FitnessToPractiseDepartment@gdc-uk.org
Where we can help, you will receive an acknowledgement of your correspondence with the name and contact details of your caseworker. Where we are unable to help, we will inform you of this and may identify other organisations who can be of assistance.
Due to the high volume of complaints we are currently processing, you may experience a delay.
If you have a serious concern about a dentist or a dental care professional that you would like to raise with us, please call us on 020 7009 2701.