A view from the Chair: responding to the government’s consultation on provisional registration and getting ready to welcome our new Chief Executive

However, provisional registration cannot happen overnight. When the consultation has closed, it requires legislation to be laid and the new systems to be designed, before anything can change. 

In the meantime, we want to improve access to the Overseas Registration Examination (ORE) for those who qualified overseas and want to work as a dentist in the UK.  As such, we are inviting potential suppliers to tender for the provision of the ORE from next year. Our Invitation to Tender is due to be published next week. The tendering follows quickly from our early market engagement carried out from February to early April. 

Tom Whiting, new Chief Executive and Registrar, joins the GDC on 3 June 

Along with the rest of the Council, I am looking forward to welcoming Tom Whiting on 3 June as the GDC’s Chief Executive and Registrar. As well as his internal and staff engagements, Tom will meet external stakeholders too and he joins just in time to attend the Dental Leadership Network event on 12 June, where I am sure he will have the opportunity to meet stakeholders from across the sector.  

I would like to personally thank Gurvinder Soomal, the Interim Chief Executive, who will return to his role as the GDC’s Chief Operating Officer when Tom is in place. Gurvinder has played a vital role in steering the organisation and ensuring that we remained focused on our priorities during this transition period. I am very pleased that he will continue as a member of the Executive Leadership Team and that I and Council will continue to benefit from his advice and expertise. 

Dental care professionals can soon renew their registration and provide working pattern data 

We edge closer to the opening of the dental care professionals’ (DCP) annual renewal period. This year, those renewing will be able to answer a working patterns survey if they choose to do so, much like the dentists did towards the end of last year. Renewal will be open from 10 June until 31 July 2024, but you can log onto eGDC and update your CPD statement at any time. 

We were pleased to present our plans for this round of working patterns data to stakeholder partners in some workshops this month. They were received positively, and we look forward to working with partners to drive responses. Together with the dentists’ data we released in March, the insights we receive will help us continue to build a comprehensive picture of the dental profession in the UK.