In the run up to the lecture I will be doing at the British Dental Conference in May entitled ‘My FTP case and other more important matters’ I would like to pose a few questions and then later perhaps pose a few answers to the questions but just to open the discussion, here we go.
- Why are there so many cases in the last year having gone through FTP at the GDC which have resulted in no case to answer. The most recent of the hearings is my friend and colleague David Lee whose ‘No case to answer’ four day hearing concluded on the 26th April. I presume this is being measure closely by the GDC and each of these is a significant event which is thoroughly investigated and taken apart to ensure that it doesn’t happen again. The process after all is to ensure that the only people who go to FTP are the ones with a high likelihood of being ‘prosecuted’. During the lecture we may discuss some of the cases which has returned as ‘no case to answer’
- Why is there a growing degree of real concern within the profession (and indeed the British Dental Association i’m told) that the withdrawal of indemnity from individuals is growing and becoming more and more of a spectre over the heads of dentists. Why are more and more dentists being pushed towards insurance?
- In a world where we are compelled to be ‘insured’ and patients protected by our insurance why does indemnity continue to be discretionary.
- With the much-awaited publication of the new standards released by the FGDP on note keeping, who has seen this and how much consultation has gone on related to this? I have seen from the outside how much consultation has been applied to the training standards in implant dentistry and I don’t think it’s sufficient and I don’t think it’s good enough. I just hope that the standards that are being released are robust enough because this is what we will be judged against for the next five years.
- Are the GDC keeping a log of how many dentists are being accused in their charges of misleading, deliberately misleading and dishonest conduct and how many of those charges are actually proven to be correct? The inference here is that many dentists are being accused of these and very few are being ‘convicted’.
Just a few questions related to things I might discuss in Manchester. Hope you can make it for the discussion. If not there will be a series of blogs that week which will outline what i’ve talked about to allow discussion to be had following the event.
Blog Post Number: 933
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