Urgent legislative change to streamline GDC

URGENT legislative changes are being introduced to allow the GDC to streamline its fitness to practise procedures.

The Department of Health has announced it will publish a Section 60 Order, paving the way for the introduction of case examiners which will improve the speed of decision making at the GDC. A Section 60 Order is a statutory instrument and is the quickest and most effective means by which the GDC’s current legislation can be amended. It is so-called because it refers to S60 of the Health Act 1999.

The GDC’s complaints caseload has increased by more than 100 per cent since 2011. In the first quarter of 2014 it received 846 complaints (a 5.49 per cent increase on the same period in 2013). The regulator believes this decision by the Department of Health is a significant step forward in allowing real improvements to be made to how the GDC manages the complaints it receives.

It is expected that the order will be in place by May 2015.

Chief Executive and Registrar of the GDC, Evlynne Gilvarry, said: "The GDC recognised in 2011 that it needed to make significant changes to its fitness to practise processes. The ongoing increase in complaints, at around 110 per cent in the last three years, has made this an ever more pressing issue. We are extremely pleased that the Department of Health has made this decision. At the same time we are working hard to make operational improvements to the way we handle cases and this is a key priority going forward."

A separate S60 Order will also introduce a requirement for all practising healthcare professionals to have appropriate indemnity or insurance cover as a condition of professional registration. The Department of Health also intends to commence work on a S60 Order enabling the GDC to introduce proportionate language controls for dentists coming to work in the UK from within the EEA.