Our strategy

GDC strategy – Chair's foreword  

Our strategy for 2026 – 2028 is very consciously titled trusted and effective – this is what we are aiming to be seen to be and how your experience working alongside us should feel. 

Our vision is to be a trusted and effective regulator, supporting dental professionals to provide safe and effective care for their patients. 

The strategy sets out our vision, values, objectives, the work we will do to achieve them and how we will measure and know that we’re making progress. It’s a strategy intended to make a difference to dental regulation that will be felt by dental professionals, external partners, patients and the public.  

We will champion a model of regulation that supports professionalism, enables learning, and resolves issues quickly and proportionately.  Equality, diversity and inclusion will be at the heart of how we work. We want to provide right touch regulation that fits the times we’re in and anticipates future changes in the practice environment. We want to be on top of emerging issues and able to play our part in tackling shared challenges. 

We are clear that we want to be trusted and, to do this, we have to be effective. We have tested our plans to ensure sufficient funding, people and skills to deliver. We will be transparent about our progress and performance, and report on these, keeping an open dialogue about our accountability to you.  

Collaboration with partners is key. We have shared interests in making dentistry work across the UK, and we all have a role to play. The Council is resolved that we will be recognised as a regulator that operates with greater effectiveness across all our functions and works collaboratively as a valued partner across the sector. For my part, I am committed to nurturing relationships built on trust and support and using these to listen and to learn so that we support dental professionals to provide safe and effective care for their patients. 

Chair, General Dental Council