GDC publishes report on causes of death during fitness to practise investigations
NewsPosted by: Dental Design 4th November 2024
The General Dental Council (GDC) has published a new report on dental professionals who have died while fitness to practise (FtP) concerns were investigated or remediated.
The report, the first of its kind for the GDC, covers the period 2019 to 2022. During this time, 20 dental professionals died while their cases were active, with causes of death categorised as natural, external, or unspecified, and one subcategory of suicide. The GDC has taken steps to ensure that individuals cannot be identified.
The report has included deaths in the subcategory of suicide when “suicide” was listed on the death certificate or notification. By convention, death certificates in Scotland and Northern Ireland do not use the word “suicide” or any synonym of it. Deaths that occurred overseas have been categorised as unspecified.
Lord Toby Harris, GDC Chair, said: “The report serves as a call for everyone in the dental sector to reflect on the environment, systems and processes involved in being a dental professional. It took longer than we expected to complete the work and some of the issues have been complex, but we have delivered process improvements in parallel and taken care to ensure we can be confident in the data reported.
“Every death is a tragedy, and when the data and what we are doing to improve FtP are put aside, what is left is the death of people, some in tragic circumstances, and we must consider the families, loved ones and colleagues for whom the pain and hurt are still very raw, and we offer them our condolences.”
The GDC has prioritised improvements to its FtP process to minimise the significant negative health and wellbeing impacts of investigations on dental professionals. Recent improvements include revised communications and staff training, and the regulator is currently piloting the use of initial inquiries to enable the assessment of clinical practice concerns earlier in the process and improve timeliness.
The GDC engaged with relevant stakeholders and Sir Louis Appleby, Chair of the National Suicide Prevention Strategy Advisory Group, in the production and reporting of the data.
Dental Protection: Long awaited report on deaths during GDC investigations is a positive step
Dental Protection has said the long-awaited report by the General Dental Council (GDC) on dental professionals who have died while fitness to practise concerns were investigated is a positive step, and has called on the regulator to ensure the transparency on this issue continues.
The new report, published by the GDC in November 2024, covers the period 2019 to 2022 and reveals that twenty (20) dental professionals died while their cases were active, with causes of death categorised as natural, external, or unspecified, and one subcategory of suicide. Between one and three deaths were confirmed as suicide.
Dr George Wright, Deputy Dental Director at Dental Protection said: “While this long-awaited report makes for difficult reading, it is the first step in understanding the extent of this problem and we see this as a breakthrough initiative.
“It also builds on other recent progress to improve fitness to practise processes, such as the review of correspondence sent to registrants during an investigation, the implementation of a pilot to expedite the resolution of simple cases, and the review into the amount of information released publicly when the Interim Orders Committee is considering fitness to practise concerns.
“There is however much more to be done, and we hope the much-needed transparency on deaths during fitness to practise investigations will continue, with regular reporting of this data combined with ongoing efforts by the regulator to further reduce the impact of its investigations.
“Reform to the GDC’s outdated legislation is essential to reduce investigation delays, which we know significantly impact mental wellbeing. Reform could give the regulator greater discretion to not take forward investigations where allegations clearly do not require action, so it could then focus on the most serious allegations and process them faster. The Government must expedite the reform of the GDC, and we will continue to press for this.”
A Dental Protection survey of 125 dental professionals who have been investigated by the dental regulator in the last five years, revealed that over a quarter (28%) experienced suicidal thoughts during their investigation.
Dental Protection members experiencing work-related stress they feel could impact their practice, can make use of the 24/7 counselling service and other wellbeing support available as a benefit of membership. The service is provided through a third-party partner and is completely confidential.
DDU responds to GDC report on deaths by suicide during investigations
John Makin, head of the Dental Defence Union (DDU) welcomed the publication of the report. He said:
“DDU members tell us that undergoing a GDC investigation is one of the most difficult experiences of their professional lives. The stress of being under scrutiny is unsettling for anyone but it is particularly traumatic for dental professionals who have to face a lengthy and potentially career-limiting process.
“We welcome the steps the GDC has taken, as detailed in the report, to lessen the impact of its investigations but we continue to maintain that more must be done. We must reduce delays in investigations. One death of a colleague due to the stress of a fitness to practise investigation is a death too many. We must all play our part in supporting colleagues with the strains of practice.
“The GDC has been able to make limited reforms to improve its fitness to practise procedures, such as piloting the use of initial inquiries and improved training for its staff. However, it is constrained by outdated legislation when it comes to making the process fast, fair and non-adversarial.
“We are still waiting for legislation to see the light of day for the reform of dental regulation. For every week that passes, there will be more dental professionals having to deal with an unnecessarily lengthy and damaging investigation. The welfare of dental professionals must be a priority for the government.”
The MDU, the parent company of the DDU, has urged the government to prioritise regulatory reform as part of an Agenda for Change.
If you are affected by the information reported or the issues set out in the report, Samaritans are available, day or night, 365 days a year. Whoever you are and whatever you’re facing, the Samaritans will not judge you or tell you what to do. They are available to listen, so you don’t have to face it alone. You can call the Samaritans free on 116 123 or email them at jo@samaritans.org.
