ALL location details about dental professionals will be removed from the General Dental Council register, it has been confirmed.
A consultation on plans to change the information included in the online public database had responses from more than 2,500 people. Almost three-quarters of respondents (74 per cent) wanted to remove all address information from the register while the remaining 26 per cent were happy for a general location, such as a postal town, to remain.
A survey of more than 500 members of the regulator’s patient panel found 60 per cent were in favour of publishing no location information on the register.
The GDC has confirmed it will no longer publish addresses. Chief Executive Ian Brack called it a “significant decision” that brings the GDC in line with other professional healthcare regulators.
He said: “The decision… [balances] our role in protecting the public with the need to treat dental professionals fairly, whilst protecting their personal information.
“The registration number will become the primary identifier of registration status, so particularly important for dentists and dental care professionals to start to display it appropriately.”
The move will be formally approved at the Council’s next meeting in October at which point all addresses will be removed from the online register.
The change has been supported by the British Dental Association who have long argued the publication of full addresses – which began in 2006 – was "unnecessary, and out of line with other regulators, as well as a potential risk to registrant safety".
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