General Dental Council
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The General Dental Council (GDC) is a United Kingdom organisation which regulates all dental professionals in the country. Established in 1956, and currently under the Dentists Act 1984, it keeps an up-to-date register of all qualified dentists and other dental care professionals such as: dental hygienists, dental therapists, dental nurses, dental technicians and clinical dental technicians. In doing so it protects the general public from unqualified dental professionals.
The General Dental Council’s mission statement is:
- To protect patients
- To promote confidence in dental professionals
- To be at the forefront of health care regulation
The GDC has many roles, in ensuring that all dental professionals maintain up to date knowledge, controlling the quality of dental education in the country, ensuring a proper quality of care is given to the patients, and helping any patient who has questions or complaints. It acts as a bridge of communication between the government, public and the dental professionals.
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[edit] Council
The council has 29 members, 10 of which are members of public appointed by the National Health Service (NHS) Appointments Commission. The other members consist of 15 dentists and 4 dental care professionals who are elected by dental professionals. In addition to this, there are 4 associate members who are: the Chief Dental Officers for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Chief Executive and Registrar: Duncan Rudkin
[edit] Current Council Members
| Dentist members | DCP members | Lay members | Associate members |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meredith Bell | Julia Brewin | Caroline Abel Smith | Barry Cockcroft |
| John Chope | Rosemarie Khan | Joan Aitken | Ray Watkins |
| Paul Cook | Shelia Phillips | Peter Catchpole | Paul Langmaid |
| Mary Dodd | Mabel Slater | Suzanne Cosgrave | Donncha O'Carolan |
| Richard Graham | David Herbert | ||
| Anthony Kilcoyne | Sally Irvine | ||
| Jim Lafferty | Lesley Kant | ||
| Alison Lockyer | David Murphy | ||
| Michael Martin | Derek Prentice | ||
| Hew Mathewson* | Carol Varlaam | ||
| David Phillips | |||
| Raj RajaRayan | |||
| Joe Rich | |||
| Amolak Singh | |||
| Denis Toppin |
*Current president
