In November 2015, the GDC changed the rules on registration to ensure that all Dentists and Dental Care Professionals (DCPs) have a statutory requirement to maintain adequate and appropriate indemnity when practising dentistry in the UK. This has been a professional requirement for some time. Paragraph 1.8 of the GDC Standards document makes it clear that all registrants “must have appropriate arrangements in place for patients to seek compensation if they have suffered harm”. The GDC goes on to define such “arrangements” as being “appropriate insurance or indemnity”.

The GDC recently issued detailed guidance as to how this statutory requirement will be satisfied, and set out the obligations for each registrant and potential registrant. You can find this guidance on the GDC website.

This legislation was introduced so that patients can claim any compensation to which they may be entitled. Members who are employed by NHS Trusts, Health Boards, or other NHS bodies or who are dental nurses employed within a General Dental Practice (including corporates) or a laboratory, may have indemnity provided by their employer. Every contract is however different and therefore it is worthwhile checking rather than simply making the assumption that all is well. Those who are self-employed will be responsible for making their own indemnity arrangements, irrespective of the area of dentistry they work in. It is the registrant’s responsibility to ensure that the indemnity they have is up to date and meets the requirements. 

Members must ensure that the level of indemnity they have is sufficient to cover the work they undertake. A member for example who places and/or restores implants, or who undertakes sinus lift procedures, must make sure they are in the appropriate grade of membership that provides indemnity for those procedures. A failure to do so could mean that the member is in breach of GDC guidance, with Dental Protection unlikely to be able to assist. The GDC has made it clear that registrants who do not have the appropriate arrangements in place may well find themselves facing a fitness to practice investigation, where their registration may well be at serious risk. 

If you are in any doubt, please contact Dental Protection’s membership department without delay.

The window for dentists to renew their GDC registration is now open. Dentists, whose names are already included on the register, have until December 31 2016 to make their renewal and confirm that they have appropriate indemnity in place. A declaration will then be required at each yearly renewal. This confirmation will be made by each registrant signing a declaration on their application to renew registration that they have indemnity arrangements in place. The GDC does NOT require sight of evidence at the point of renewal. 

Dental Protection also urges dentists to ensure that, ahead of the December 31 2016 deadline, their annual retention fee is paid.  

Locums

Dentists and DCPs who work for a locum agency should ensure that they have the appropriate indemnity in place for claims in negligence. Please contact our membership team for an application form and look on our website for further information.

The full guidance offered by the GDC is available on the GDC website.