The General Dental Council (GDC) has published its proposed Corporate Strategy 2026-2028, inviting responses to its plans to transform dental regulation.

Titled ‘Trusted and Effective: A Strategy for Dental Regulation’, it proposes a new vision of ‘good oral health for all’. The strategy outlines how the GDC will modernise its approach to regulation over the next three years, with outcomes planned through to 2030.

The strategy addresses the significant increase in internationally-qualified dental professionals joining the UK workforce – with only 53 per cent of newly registered dentists in 2024 being UK-trained – by developing a more accessible framework for international registration.

The strategy also focuses on the current climate of fear within dentistry, with research showing dental professionals' perceptions of the GDC decline sharply after qualification. The strategy commits to reducing the negative unintended impacts of fitness to practise (FtP) processes on mental health and wellbeing, while maintaining robust public protection.

Key priorities include:

  • Modernising its registration and renewal processes through improved and more user-centred digital services
  • Streamlining FtP investigations to be more proportionate and timelier
  • Working collaboratively with the sector to address challenges around access to dental services, particularly NHS provision

Lord Toby Harris, chair of the GDC, said, “With the launch of our public consultation, we’re keen to receive feedback from dental professionals, stakeholders and partners over the next three months, as this important feedback will shape the final decisions that the council will take in the autumn.

“Our public protection role remains the same, but we are proposing that we think more broadly about what that means when faced with challenges such as access to NHS dentistry and growing oral health inequalities. We cannot realise our vision of good oral health for all alone, but we can play a key role in creating the environment in which there are more dental professionals equipped to deliver the care that people need."

Tom Whiting, chief executive and registrar of the GDC, said, "The invaluable feedback we hear from dental professionals when we visit dental settings and meet at events is about fear and the need to modernise and reform. We have listened and addressing these priorities is at the centre of our proposals.

“Through trusted and effective regulation, we will support dental professionals to provide the right care for their patients. We want to develop our approach to regulation and how we work with others, particularly dental professionals, our partners and patients.

"Our priority is reducing the fear and stress that regulation creates for professionals by adopting a more empathetic approach and securing incremental improvements within the existing legislative framework.”

The proposed strategy is funded through the Annual Retention Fee (ARF) that would return broadly to 2023 levels in 2026. Any subsequent increases would be capped at the Consumer Price Index, with the GDC committing to deliver seven per cent efficiency savings over five years. This is in addition to further savings from modernising registration processes and more effective use of estates.

The 12-week public consultation on the strategy starts on May 29, 2025, and will run until August 21, 2025. The final strategy is set to be approved by the council in October 2025.

For more information visit www.gdc-uk.org/docs/default-source/consultations-and-responses/corporate-strategy/consultation-on-our-next-corporate-strategy.pdf

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