GDC publishes updated decision-making guidance for practice committees
Part of its effort to improve fitness to practise processes and increase transparency.
The General Dental Council (GDC) has published its updated decision-making guidance for practice committees, as part of its effort to improve fitness to practise processes and increase transparency.
The regulator said the guidance will contribute to its efforts to reduce the fear and stress that regulation can create for professionals; a priority in its new strategy for trusted and effective regulation. The updated guidance and conditions bank will come into effect on 6 January 2026.
The guidance also places greater emphasis on the seriousness of sexual misconduct and discrimination cases and makes clear that sexual misconduct involving members of the dental team is as serious as cases involving patients.
Independent panellists on practice committees, which include the Professional Conduct Committee, Professional Performance Committee and Health Committee, decide whether a dental professional’s fitness to practise is currently impaired.
Although primarily for practice committee panellists who make decisions on whether a dental professional’s fitness to practise is currently impaired, the guidance is also highly relevant for registrants and their representatives at fitness to practise hearings.
Tom Whiting, Chief Executive and Registrar at the GDC, said: “We know that fitness to practise investigations can take too long and feel overly complex, often leading to a fear of the process and of the GDC. As a result, it can negatively impact the mental health and wellbeing of those involved.
“By supporting consistent, transparent and proportionate decision-making through this updated guidance, we aim to reduce some of the negative impacts of fitness to practise investigations.”
Following a 12-week consultation, the updated guidance includes improvements to the impairment sections, particularly public interest impairment findings, and instances where practice committees may consider findings on the grounds of public interest. The conflict-of-interest section now includes bias and the difference between the two.
New sections have been added covering discrimination and harassment, special measures to support vulnerable witnesses, and reasonable adjustments for registrants and witnesses involved in hearings.
The guidance follows the chronological stages of a hearing, making it more inclusive, easy to navigate, and featuring plain language where possible. This work is part of the GDC’s wider programme of improvements to fitness to practise, which has included:
- Introducing a streamlined approach for single patient clinical concerns, expanding it to include less serious conduct concerns, almost halving the time it takes to complete the initial stage from 30 to 16 weeks.
- Improving the support provided for registrants, informants and witnesses, including the introduction of hearing support coordinators.
- Delivering specialist mental health training for staff to help them identify participants in distress and signpost them to support earlier.
The updated guidance for practice committees, conditions bank and consultation outcome report, which sets out how the GDC has responded to feedback received, are now published on the GDC’s website.
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