Professionalism & Management | Communication | The GDC and personal conduct

The GDC and personal conduct
Session overview
Description
This session will discuss why the General Dental Council (GDC) is not only concerned with a registrant’s professional conduct, a personal conduct issue may cause the GDC to investigate a registrant’s fitness to practise.

Learning objectives
By the end of this session you will be able to:

• describe the GDC guidance in relation to personal conduct
• describe the GDC guidance in relation to professional conduct
• describe the rules made by the GDC concerning CPD and the consequences of failing to comply
• explain the 'clear boundaries' policy in relation to patients and the team relating that to GDC fitness to practise policy

Prerequisites
Before commencing this session you should:

• have completed Module 11 Ethics/The GDC and professional conduct (141-0458)
• have knowledge of standards for the dental team

The GDC is the regulatory body for the dental profession.

The aims of the GDC are to:

• protect patients
• promote confidence in dentists and dental care professionals
• be at the forefront of healthcare regulation

The GDC can act on complaints from patients or information received from other organisations (for example, the police or the NHS) that raise questions as to whether a registered dental professional should be practising. In this session the impact of personal conduct on professional registration will be discussed. Registrants often feel that there should be no relationship between their personal conduct and the GDC.

This session will explain that important relationship.