eGDCGDC launches consultation on new Corporate Strategy to modernise regulation
We have today published our proposed Corporate Strategy 2026-2028, inviting responses to our plans to transform dental regulation through oversight that better supports both dental professionals and patients.
Titled ‘Trusted and Effective: A Strategy for Dental Regulation’, it proposes a new vision of "good oral health for all" and outlines how we will modernise our approach to regulation over the next three years, with outcomes planned through to 2030.
The strategy addresses the significant increase in internationally-qualified dental professionals joining the UK workforce – with only 53% of newly registered dentists in 2024 being UK-trained – by developing a more accessible framework for international registration.
The strategy also focuses on the current climate of fear within dentistry, with research showing dental professionals' perceptions of the GDC decline sharply after qualification. The strategy commits to reducing the negative unintended impacts of fitness to practise processes on mental health and wellbeing, while maintaining robust public protection.
Key priorities include modernising our registration and renewal processes through improved and more user-centred digital services, streamlining fitness to practise investigations to be more proportionate and timelier, and working collaboratively with the sector to address challenges around access to dental services, particularly NHS provision.
Lord Toby Harris, Chair of the GDC, said: “With the launch of our public consultation today, we’re keen to receive feedback from dental professionals, stakeholders and partners over the next three months, as this important feedback will shape the final decisions that the Council will take in the Autumn.”
“Our public protection role remains the same, but we are proposing that we think more broadly about what that means when faced with challenges such as access to NHS dentistry and growing oral health inequalities. We cannot realise our vision of good oral health for all alone, but we can play a key role in creating the environment in which there are more dental professionals equipped to deliver the care that people need."
The strategy builds on the significant progress we have made in recent years, including updated education frameworks and specialty curricula, the establishment of the Dental Leadership Network to boost collaboration on sector-wide issues, and the introduction of more proportionate fitness to practise processes through initial inquiries.
Tom Whiting, Chief Executive and Registrar of the GDC, said: "The invaluable feedback we hear from dental professionals when we visit dental settings and meet at events is about fear and the need to modernise and reform. We have listened and addressing these priorities is at the centre of our proposals.
“Through trusted and effective regulation, we will support dental professionals to provide the right care for their patients. We want to develop our approach to regulation and how we work with others, particularly dental professionals, our partners and patients.
"Our priority is reducing the fear and stress that regulation creates for professionals by adopting a more empathetic approach and securing incremental improvements within the existing legislative framework.
“Our legislation is outdated and an impediment to effective regulation in a number of areas. We have been strongly advocating for wholesale reform of our framework for several years, and will continue to do so.
“Council has given careful consideration to the funding required to continue to modernise and improve efficiency while ensuring we remain financially stable and has decided on the delivery of our plans over a five-year period. Spreading out the costs associated with the delivery of our strategic ambitions will help ensure financial stability, and affordability for fee-payers."
Financial planning spans five years to ensure stability and affordability, with the proposed strategy funded through the Annual Retention Fee (ARF) that would return broadly to 2023 levels in 2026 – significantly lower than if fees had increased with inflation since 2020. Any subsequent increases would be capped at the Consumer Price Index, with the GDC committing to deliver 7% efficiency savings over five years in addition to further savings from modernising registration processes and more effective use of estates.
The strategy introduces updated values that will drive change across the organisation: being respectful, transparent, inclusive and purposeful, with the regulator aiming to “embody our values by 2030.”
Equality, diversity and inclusion are positioned as central to all activities, with a specific focus on understanding and addressing why certain ethnic groups and internationally trained professionals are overrepresented in fitness to practise proceedings.
With increasing pressures on the dental team, we recognise the role we play in reducing health inequalities and will ensure that the services we provide and the ways in which we communicate are accessible to everyone.
The 12-week public consultation on the strategy starts today (29 May) and will run until 21 August 2025, with the final strategy to be approved by Council in October 2025.