Consultation on English language checks for dental professionals launched
On the 30th of September 2015, the General Dental Council (GDC) launched a new confidential helpline for dental professionals who may have a concern that they need to raise at work.
Principle 8 of Standards for the Dental Team is to ‘raise concerns if patients are at risk’, and sets out the obligations of every registered dental professional to put patients’ interests first and act to protect them if needs be. This means that any dental professional is obligated to raise any concerns they have should they believe that patients or colleagues are at risk; they must also act on any concern that is raised.
However, the GDC understands that raising a concern is often easier said than done; whilst there is a professional responsibility to raise concerns, it can be difficult to make and commit to the decision to raise a concern for a variety of reasons. Knowing who to raise your concern with you can also be challenging.
The GDC has teamed up with Public Concern at Work, a charity that provides free, confidential advice to people who are concerned about wrongdoing at work to produce new advice for its registrants. This alliance will hopefully make it easier for dental professionals to raise any concerns they have for a patient or colleague’s wellbeing.
A confidential helpline also run by Public Concern at Work has also been launched for dental professionals who wish to discuss their concerns with an impartial adviser. This helpline number is 0800 668 1329.
