Male dentists significantly more likely to generate concerns than female
GDC publishes its fitness to practise 2024 report.
The General Dental Council (GDC) has published its annual Fitness to Practise (FtP) statistical report for 2024, which highlights that 18 dental professionals were removed from the register following Practice Committee hearings, representing just 0.01% of all registered dental professionals.
The report, which breaks down FtP cases by a range of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) characteristics, including ethnicity, shows that 1,401 new concerns were received during 2024, representing an 8% increase compared with the previous year. Of these concerns, 88% were resolved at assessment and case examiner stages, with only 12% progressing to a practice committee hearing.
In total, the GDC completed 1,294 assessments during 2024, a 10% decrease from 2023, reflecting a reduced caseload in this area during the year. The number of Practice Committee initial hearings held also decreased by 18%, from 91 in 2023 to 73 in 2024.
The GDC said that the report shows “meaningful improvements in case handling efficiency”, with 76% of cases meeting assessment timeframe targets in Q4 2024. Additional resources added to the Case Examiners team in the third quarter of 2024 are expected to clear the backlog of older cases by mid-2025.
Theresa Thorp, Executive Director of Regulation at the GDC, said: “Our annual statistical report provides insights into our fitness to practise processes and outcomes. The data helps us understand trends and patterns in concerns raised about dental professionals, which in turn informs our regulatory approach.
“This year’s report continues our commitment to transparency in presenting robust data that can benefit the wider dental sector. We’re focused on using this data to help us identify any issues of discrimination, bias or racism in the reporting or referral of concerns to us.”
The report reveals that patients and members of the public remain the primary source of concerns, accounting for 61% of cases received, up from 59% in 2023. There has been a continued increase in referrals from dental professionals, rising to 9% in 2024 from 8% in 2023 and 6% in 2022.
Regional analysis shows that dental professionals practising in London and the South East were more likely to have fitness to practise concerns raised against them, accounting for 22% of concerns received despite representing only 14% of the register.
The report also highlights key demographic patterns:
- Male dentists were significantly more likely to have concerns raised than female dentists, making up 47% of registered dentists but accounting for 65% of concerns.
- Asian or Asian British dentists faced a disproportionately high number of concerns (34%) relative to their representation on the register (30%).
- Younger dental professionals were proportionately less likely to have concerns raised against them.
- Dentists aged 51-60 make up 18% of the register but account for 21% of FtP concerns.
- DCPs aged 31-40 represent 32% of DCP registrants but account for 38% of concerns in that group.
Around 94% of FtP cases are generated outside of the GDC. The report shows an overrepresentation of dentists of an Asian/ Asian British ethnicity at the referral stage of the process. However, this shifts as the GDC moves through the process, so that the proportion of cases progressed throughout the FtP process, when measured by ethnic group, remain consistent at each point in the process. This, said the GDC, gives it confidence in its decision making.
It said there is currently no evidence to suggest that GDC processes systematically exacerbate this bias, however, the it will continue to monitor and review its processes.
The report includes detailed timeframe analysis, showing that 54% of investigation stage cases were completed within six months in 2024, compared to 55% in 2023 and 47% in 2022.
The GDC emphasises that EDI analysis is complex, and the information and data should not be considered in isolation when assessing correlation and causation, as many other factors may be relevant, such as practice size, location, or local population demographics.
The full Fitness to Practise Statistical Report for 2024 is available on the GDC website.