Dental industry’s reaction to the GDC’s unchanged ARF

After the GDC released a statement stating that the ARF for 2019 would remain the same, leading associations in the profession had some responses to contribute…

BDA:

The British Dental Association (BDA) has responded to the news that the GDC’s Chief Executive, Ian Brack, has revealed the Annual Retention Fee (ARF) will remain unchanged at £890 in 2019. 

The regulator has offered no detailed rationale for the move, offering instead a series of claims on uncertainty and future risk.  

Dentist leaders have slammed the lack of transparency over the process. Fee levels should be debated and determined in a Council meeting open to the public, linked to a budget and business plan. The BDA had already told the regulator in response to its consultation Clear and certain: A new framework for fee-setting, that not consulting registrants on fee levels again was unacceptable. 

The Council has not yet published its evaluation and response to the consultation. The profession’s trust in the regulator remains as low as ever due to its approach to fee setting and handling – and continuing lack of transparency.

Fees remain the highest of all the UK health regulators and continue to be used to top-up reserves, well beyond the regulator’s own stated requirements. 

 BDA Chair Mick Armstrong said: “The £890 ARF symbolises the GDC’s cavalier disregard for the profession it regulates, offering new excuses when the old ones have worn thin.

“We require a regulator prepared to live within its means, willing to approach upstreaming and contingency planning with a cool head. Instead we have a body that puts padding out war chests above all else.

“We have long argued that the GDC’s approach to its reserves is fundamentally flawed, but even by their own measure, they now exceed their required need. The levels of uncertainty are the same for all the regulators, yet nobody else seems to be arguing in this way.

“The Overseas Registration Exam  – and any new approach to registering EU nationals if necessary – should be self-financing. Yes, there may be overheads, but the bottom line is existing registrants should not have to fund registration costs for new registrants. It is simply not a good enough excuse to hoard our cash.

“When the budget for 2019 hasn’t even been formally agreed by the Council, it is not a good look for the GDC’s Chief Executive to unveil the figures in this manner. The serious concerns about transparency that we keep raising continue and increase. The ARF hasn’t changed, and neither has this profession’s trust or confidence in its regulator. The case for a significant fee cut remains, a coherent argument for a freeze has not been offered.”


BADN:

The British Association of Dental Nurses, the UK’s professional association for dental nurses – the largest professional group on the GDC Register –  today condemned the GDC decision not to lower the Annual Retention Fee (ARF) for dental nurses.

“We made it very clear, in our response to the GDC consultation, that the current ARF of £116 per year is an unreasonable financial burden on dental nurses, the majority of whom are earning minimum wage” said BADN President Hazel Coey.  “Our salary surveys show that a qualified, registered dental nurse with more than 10 years’ experience and working 40 hours per week is earning, on average, around £15,000 a year – compared to hygienists and therapists, who can earn up to three times that much.

“A one-size-fits-all approach to the ARF for DCPs is not acceptable – and we call upon the GDC to recognise this fact and lower the ARF for dental nurses.  BADN also recommends a reduction in the ARF for those registrants – not just dental nurses but all registrants – who work part time.

“Mr Brack states that “protecting the public and maintaining public confidence in dentistry” will always be the GDC’s first priority. BADN would suggest Mr. Brack remembers that without registered dental professionals there would be no dentistry; and pays a little more attention to the needs of registrants – who, after all, are funding the GDC through their ARF!”


A spokesperson for the GDC told The Probe:

“The GDC is facing specific external risks at a time when it is making significant investment for long-term improvement and efficiency. It’s disappointing because real improvements have been made but the risks are real, and they must be planned for. In the first half of next year, we are consulting on our three-year costed corporate strategy. The activity we propose there will tell us what the ARF level will need to be to carry out that work and we look forward to the debate that will bring.”

BDA heralds potential breakthrough on GDPR

Following months of lobbying the British Dental Association has welcomed news that Lib Dem MP Christine Jardine has tabled its suggested amendments [1] to the Data Protection Bill to save primary care providers from needless financial burdens.

The simple change would specifically exempt small NHS providers from the costly burden of appointing a dedicated Data Protection Officer (DPO). The BDA has been working closely with partners at the Optical Confederation, the National Pharmacy Association and the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, urging both government and opposition MPs to exempt dentists, pharmacists and opticians from this expensive and unnecessary new requirement.

Primary care leaders have argued that the current draft Bill goes well beyond the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which does not require health providers to appoint a DPO unless they process healthcare data “on a large scale”.

Most high street NHS primary care providers do not process data on a large scale, but are set to be covered by this onerous new duty by virtue of being defined by UK legislation as “public bodies”. The BDA has estimated that outsourcing this service may well cost even the smallest practices in excess of £5,000, with some members reporting quotes from potential contractors of over £10,000 a year. Amendments will be considered at the Bill’s Report Stage, which is likely to take place in the second week of May [2].

News comes as primary care leaders have written again to the Department for Culture Media and Sport, urging Secretary of State Matt Hancock to change tack.

BDA Chair, Mick Armstrong, said: “We have been making the argument for a simple amendment that would protect small NHS providers who were never meant to be captured by these regulations.

“We want to thank Christine Jardine MP for her support. This common sense move wouldn’t cost taxpayers a penny, is non-controversial and nonpartisan, and remains entirely consistent with the stated intentions of the GDPR.

“This small change can make a big difference, saving hard-pressed high street health providers from needless pain. Together with our partners across primary care we urge parliamentarians on both sides of the house to offer their support.”

[1] https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/2017-2019/0190/amend/data_rm_rep_0424.8-14.html

Clause 7, page 5, line 24, after “subsections” insert “(1A),”.                                                  

Clause 7, page 5, line 24, at end insert—

“(1A)

A primary care service provider is not a “public authority” or “public body” for the purposes of the GDPR merely by virtue of the fact that it is defined as a public authority by either—

(a) any of paragraphs 43A to 45A or paragraph 51 of Schedule 1 to the Freedom of Information Act 2000, or

(b) any of paragraphs 33 to 35 of Schedule 1 to the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (asp 13).”

[2] https://services.parliament.uk/Bills/2017-19/dataprotection.html

Peter Dyer re-elected as BDA Chair of hospital dentists

Peter Dyer, oral and maxillofacial surgeon, has been re-elected as the Chair of the British Dental Association’s Central Committee for Hospital Dental Services (CCHDS) for the 2018/2020 triennium, having first being elected in 2015.

Peter was appointed consultant in oral and maxillofacial surgery to the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust in 1998 with a special interest in trauma and orthognathics. He has worked as the medical director for the Trust and is the responsible officer for overseeing the appraisal and revalidation of medical staff.

He was closely involved in the development of the new dental school at the University of Central Lancashire and also with the new medical school at Lancaster University. He co-edited the Handbook of Immediate Care and has contributed chapters about dento-facial trauma in a number of textbooks. As hospital dentists are employed on the same terms of service as doctors, Peter led the BDA’s response to the junior doctors’ contract dispute and was determined to secure a contract that is both safe for patients and practitioners alike.

In recognition of his major contribution to dentistry, the BDA and in reducing artificial barriers between primary and secondary care, Peter was appointed as the union’s president whose term expires next month.

Thanking CCHDS members for electing him to the office of chair, Peter said: “The profession is currently facing significant challenges, not least the new trainee contract needs to be implemented fairly, and ditto any changes to the consultant contract.

“It’s frustrating too that the long-recognised need to create a no-blame culture in hospitals, akin to the airline industry, has been undermined by the questionable handling by all those involved in the Bawa Garba case.

“How long more do we have to wait for a culture that promotes learning from mistakes rather than penalising individuals for systemic failures that place patients at risk? Let us hope that this sad case will be a tipping point and we will start to see a paradigm shift in attitudes and behaviours of regulators.

“It’s also unclear how hospital dental departments will be affected when the latest model for commissioning services – Integrated Care Systems [formerly called the Sustainability and Transformation Plans] – comes into play.

“Health Education England’s proposals to radically change the way dentists are trained have not only set alarm bells ringing in the dental community, they also fail to consider the knock-on effects to hospital dental services and the patients we serve.

“Our committee will also be working hard to address the anomalous routes for entry to the GDC’s specialist register for clinicians who have not undertaken formal training. The regulator’s current process is not as transparent as the GMC’s for the medical and surgical specialties.”

The Vice-Chair, Pete Brotherton, was also re-elected, having been elected himself in 2015.