The General Dental Council is seeking an opportunity for early legislation to put in place a new-look, smaller, fully appointed Council with an increased lay membership.
This decision was made at a specially convened meeting last week (28 March 2007) where it was also agreed that a future Council should have:
- 24 members;
- an equal number of lay and professional members;
- a Chair elected from within the membership of Council; and
- all members of the Council appointed by the Appointments Commission, within parameters set by the GDC.
The Council’s decisions follow the publication of the White Paper last month which sets out Government’s plans for healthcare regulation, including how the Councils of healthcare regulatory bodies should be constituted.
GDC President, Hew Mathewson, said:
“The General Dental Council has proved itself to be firmly at the forefront of professional regulation, making significant changes to improve patient protection. The changes we have agreed underline the value of the partnership between lay people, dentists and dental care professionals, which is such a strength of the GDC.”
GDC Chief Executive and Registrar, Duncan Rudkin, said:
“We will now be working with the Departments of Health across the UK to press for constitutional changes to the GDC to be included in legislation at the earliest opportunity.”
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Notes to editors:
- The GDC recently consulted on the constitution of the Council following the introduction of statutory registration for dental nurses, dental technicians and other dental care professionals. The results of the consultation are summarised on our website.