Judicial review – reaction
Scottish Dental spoke to dentists across Scotland and found universal anger against the GDC and the fee increase. Agreeing to be quoted, practitioners asked not to be named:
Practice owner, Borders:
“The GDC has demonstrated the same level of arrogance it has done all the way through this process.
“Having gone through a judicial review, I feel we have been justified and vindicated.
“But with it finding in our favour, we all feel very frustrated and let down that there is no change to the fee.
“I hoped that the court would find that they had not been transparent and that they hadn’t followed the appropriate processes, and that certainly seems to have been proven.
“I’m not hopeful there will be an appeal, certainly not in time to prevent us having to pay the fee. I was one of those that cancelled my Direct Debit to the GDC in the hope that there would be a change to it.
“However, I will pay in time. I can’t afford not to. I wish there was another avenue of protest, but there isn’t.”
Practice owner, Edinburgh:
“If the consultation was unlawful, when do we see our refund?
“If ever there was a case for the GDC to be disbanded, this is it. It’s been clear from the very start, it ignored the profession all through the consultation. It’s shocking.
“I think the BDA has also been weak in this – we need to see a Scottish Dental Association and a Scottish Dental Council.
“At the moment we have two countries, one system. It’s not working for us in Scotland, it’s like Hong Kong and China. Our system in Scotland is entirely different and the BDA is unable to act.
“We need to have a completely separate regulatory body here that is separately funded and separately staffed.
“That is the only thing that will stop something like this from happening again.”
Practice owner, West of Scotland:
“I don’t care about the money, I care what the money is being used for, which is the increase in Fitness to Practise cases and the fact that they wouldn’t reveal in their very poor consultation on why they want to have an increase in FtP cases. There is a massive hole in that.
“I wasn’t surprised but I was very disappointed. I didn’t ever think there would be a change in the money, but I was disappointed that the judge wasn’t very interested in looking at the flaws in the consultation process.
“Certainly from a Scottish perspective, we need to be pursuing an independent Scottish healthcare regulator.
“The GDC was forced to pay costs, but that just means we will be paying them next year. But it was totally predictable that this would happen.”
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