A Dental Protection survey of 140 members who have been investigated by the General Dental Council (GDC) reveals that 94% felt it had an impact on their stress and anxiety and 33% had considered leaving the profession because of the experience. The survey also showed that 76% believe the investigation impacted on their personal life and 71% felt it affected their health and wellbeing.
A third of respondents (32%) believe they received enough support in looking after their health throughout the investigation. However, of those, four in 10 (40%) felt they needed clearer expectations from the GDC and one in 10 (11%) were left feeling they needed counselling.
Kevin Lewis, Dental Director at Dental Protection, said: “It is worrying that so many dental professionals feel they are suffering from stress and anxiety as a result of a GDC investigation, but not entirely surprising. Investigations can sometimes take years to conclude meaning dental practitioners have to continue practising while waiting for the GDC to decide their fate.
“GDC investigations can also have a long-lasting effect on dental practitioners, with 67% of respondents believing it impacted on their confidence and a quarter (26%) feeling their future career prospects would be affected.
“It is heartening to see that despite the obvious challenges of dealing with a GDC investigation, 49% of members learned from the experience and looked forward to continuing their career.”
More information
For further information or to arrange an interview with Kevin Lewis please contact Rajiv Pattni on 0207 399 1409 or email [email protected]
Notes to Editors:
- Dental Protection conducted a survey of dental members to find out about the effect a GDC investigation had on them. The survey ran from 23 March 2015 to 6 April 2015 and received 140 responses.
- Dental Protection Limited is registered in England (No. 2374160) and is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Medical Protection Society Limited (MPS) which is registered in England (No.36142). Both companies use Dental Protection as a trading name and have their registered office at 33 Cavendish Square, London W1G 0PS.
- Dental Protection serves and supports the dental members of MPS with access to the full range of benefits of membership, which are all discretionary, and set out in MPS’s Memorandum and Articles of Association. MPS is not an insurance company. Dental Protection® is a registered trademark of MPS.
- To find out more about Dental Protection please go to: www.dentalprotection.org