I promised myself on my holiday in Cornwall that I wouldn’t check emails or look at work stuff but I just easily got sucked in because I'd taken my laptop, intending to do other things and some long-term planning but you just click the button.
On the Thursday of the week that I was there, sat in my inbox was an email from the GDC.
I know the one, it’s the one that requires attention within 7 days and has attachments that you can download but only once due to a patient complaint.
It’s recommended that you open it on a laptop or a desktop and it’s clear that your attention is required now.
The email itself obviously is nonspecific and not related to a specific patient name or case but I was not expecting anything as I felt there was nothing in the offing.
And so, there I was again.
Heart rate about 120, trying to unconsciously scan my entire back catalogue of patients to see who it was who had decided now to try to get their teeth back into me.
The thought process (on reflection) was horrendous and at lightning speed.
I was already giving up dentistry, that was it, I’d had enough. They weren’t going to do this to me again.
I was sat on the sofa in Cornwall in our little flat for the week with Callum and he was unaware of any of this that was going on.
I clicked on the link and downloaded the letter from the case worker.
It turned out it was not for me but was for one of my colleagues and I was being asked to comment on their ability to provide good dentistry.
My colleague is already aware of this and what’s going on so this is no surprise to anyone (except for me).
The staggering thing is though that I was catapulted immediately back to 2014.
The window was pulled wide open and they stuck their hand in and wrapped it around my heart.
It will never go away this, it’s been 7 years and it will never, ever go away and that is the legacy that we’re fighting against for a generation of our profession.
The younger members of the profession are terrified because of the stories that the older members tell.
I have tried so hard now to be positive about the changes that have been made and to tell people that things are different now and you’re much less likely to get into trouble or difficulty even if one of these emails drops in your inbox…
But clearly I don’t believe it.
The legacy from the time when the GDC ‘went rogue’ will be a long, long time in the fixing and the newly appointed head must be fully and clearly aware of this because the damage is still real and affecting patients on a day-to-day basis.
Blog Post Number - 2820