GDC announces fees increase

04 October 2010

DENTISTS’ fees will go up by almost a third at the end of the year after the GDC announced a sharp rise in charges.

The compulsory Annual Retention Fee for dentists will rise by just over 30 per cent to £576 compared to the current rate of £438. That’s a hike of £138, which takes effect from December 31, 2010.

Fees for dental care professionals are going up by a quarter, from £96 to £120 from July 31, 2011.

The GDC has blamed the need for higher fees on its increasing workload. They reported a 40 per cent rise in their fitness to practise caseload while the cost of legal and professional services now stands at more than £8 million.

The GDC also said hearings have increased. There were 178 cases referred to a practice committee in 2009 compared to 164 the previous year. They have also blamed planned Government initiatives like revalidation for pushing up costs.

GDC chair Alison Lockyer said: “As a dentist, I recognise that there are dental professionals who will be unhappy with this decision about the ARF [but we] have looked very carefully at what it costs us to regulate dentistry.”

Ms Lockyer said the GDC still provided value for money and pointed to a number of recent efficiency savings the council had made, including not awarding staff a cost-of-living pay increase and cutting non-essential jobs.