Clyde & Co’s Healthcare team recently held our annual Dental Seminar in London where we discussed a range of topics across multiple practice areas. In the regulatory field, and of interest to all those who advise, assist or indemnify dentists, was a review of the GDC’s processes for triaging cases and the figures reported with the GDC’s Fitness to Practise Statistical Report 2024.

By comparing the statistics published by the GDC against the annual reports of other healthcare regulators, we considered the GDC’s performance when it comes to triaging decisions at the beginning of the fitness to practise process. 

As defence representatives, we see and hear of too many cases where the GDC refers allegations to the Case Examiners which, in our view, could have been dealt with in a more proportionate manner (for example, where there is little evidence available to support the allegations or where a Clinical Advisor concludes that only some aspects of the care fell below standard). 

Our concerns are reflected in the statistics which show a significantly higher proportion of cases being progressed after initial triage, compared to other healthcare regulators. The figures are markedly different to those at the GMC, with 32% of cases at the GDC proceeding to the Case Examiners, compared to only 11% proceeding past the triage stage at the GMC.

The very same afternoon that we gave this talk to our clients (on 1 July 2025), the GDC announced that its initial inquiry process is to be extended. The initial inquiry process started as a pilot scheme before being adopted permanently in November 2024 but has previously been limited in its application to single patient clinical concern cases. 

It has now been expanded to include “cases that involve isolated reports of alleged low-level misconduct, such as perceived rudeness or abruptness”. Exclusions will apply where the GDC holds information that might suggest a pattern of behaviour or where the alleged misconduct is deemed to be more serious and to require further investigation.

This is a welcome development, suggesting that making improvements to the triage process is on the GDC’s list of priorities. We hope that the extension of the initial inquiry process will result in more cases being closed at an earlier stage, with less stress being suffered by dentists and DCPs, and potentially inroads being made into the overwhelming backlog of cases at the early stage of the fitness to practise process. 

Only time will tell whether this change will have a meaningful impact, but we certainly hope that it will as the statistics demonstrate that the GDC is lagging behind other regulators in this area and that there is certainly further work to be done.