View from the Chair: one year on as Chair; business planning; insights from the British Association of Private Dentistry (BAPD)

My first year as Chair of the GDC

It’s now a full year since I joined the GDC as Chair and what a privilege and pleasure it has been to work alongside GDC colleagues, stakeholders and most especially registrants. I arrived with huge respect for those who work in healthcare and the vital oral care that dental professionals provide to millions of people in the UK. Meeting and hearing from stakeholders and dental professionals regularly, including at every Council meeting so far in 2026, has reinforced this belief.

Last year was certainly an exciting time to join the GDC, as we agreed our strategy for 2026-2028 and set out our vision to be a trusted and effective regulator, supporting dental professionals to provide safe and effective care for their patients. 

It has been very positive to see the good progress we have made on delivering our strategy. We are still in the first year of our business plan for 2026-2028. We are on track to meet our commitments and have already delivered activity that has or will make a difference to dental professionals every day. A few highlights are that we delivered our new online tool to manage your registration and annual renewal (MyGDC), greatly expanded the Overseas Registration Exam (ORE) capacity, improved a series of decision-making guidance documents used in the fitness to practise (FtP) process, consulted on proposals for a new framework for professionalism and moved our London office to more modern and cost-effective premises.

On behalf of Council I want to thank dental professionals and stakeholders who have and continue to provide feedback on our delivery and consultations, and the GDC team who have worked so hard to make progress.

Business planning for 2027

It is natural at this time of year that Council review and scrutinise the business plans for 2027-2029. As well as assuring ourselves that our strategy remains on track, we are looking at where we need to focus our efforts, especially around FtP timeliness and the increasing numbers of concerns we are receiving. In 2025, the volume of fitness to practise concerns reported to us increased to 1,766, from 1,401 in 2024 – that’s a 26% increase last year and, so far, a further 20% increase in 2026.  This is putting substantial pressure on our costs.

We are looking very closely at how we mitigate this impact. Some will be achieved by improving the efficiency of our operations, both directly in relation to FtP and more broadly, for example from the launch of MyGDC.

The updated business plan will be presented to Council for approval at its meeting on 30 October. It will cover the period until the end of 2029 and will take account of our expected level of reserves at that point. There is no short-term pressure on the GDC’s finances, and the current level of reserves is within target range. Council will set the level of the ARF in the light of its decisions on the wider business plan. We announced last year that the level of the ARF would be adjusted as necessary for 2027 and 2028, but that other than in exceptional circumstances, any increase will not exceed the rate of the Consumer Price Index.

Highlights from September’s Council meeting

Council reviewed the performance report from the previous quarter (April to June), noting the progress being made and the challenges underway, as I mentioned above. Council also approved recommendations to amend our framework for decisions we make about matters related to finances and people. Put simply, we want to remove unnecessary escalation and approval stages in such decisions, while retaining appropriate professional advice, internal control and assurance. Changes will start to take place from January 2027, starting with changes that can be introduced safely and quickly and a thorough and supportive training programme to support line managers.

The British Association of Private Dentistry (BAPD) presented to the public Council meeting in September. BAPD President, Simon Thackeray, and BAPD Board member and dental technician, Jenna Ellis, shared their thoughts on reducing FtP investigation timescales and strengthening scope of practice safeguards across the dental team.

Simon Thackeray said:

“It felt like a big thing to be invited to speak with the GDC’s Council and to be listened to. We see dental professionals realising that the GDC is changing. It’s important to have the opportunity to discuss the issues – such as the impact of fitness to practise investigations on dental professionals – and to urge the GDC to do more to improve the process and make it quicker and less stressful for all participants.”

In September’s meeting, we also bade farewell to Simon Morrow, registrant member from Scotland and a positive and vocal advocate for trusted and effective dental regulation. I want to personally thank Simon for his wise counsel to me in his role as Senior Independent Council Member over the past year, and for his professionalism and dedication as a valuable member of the Audit and Risk Committee (ARC) as well as Council.

Donald Burden, registrant Council member from Northern Ireland, replaces Simon as our Senior Independent Council Member, continuing this important role as a conduit between Council members and the Chair of Council, and to deputise for my role as Chair at external events or internal meetings.

We now welcome Oosh Devalia who joined Council on 1 October, and also replaced Simon in ARC, as a registrant member bringing a strong track record in clinical care, policy development and system leadership.

As I close for this month, thank you to everyone who has shared their valuable feedback and insight in my first year as Chair. Your input really does help to shape our thinking, and I am looking forward to hearing much more in my meetings and discussions with dental professionals and stakeholders in the coming months.