10/10/2024 13:38:00
The GDC and CPD Requirements for Dental Professionals
Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is the ongoing process of enhancing skills, knowledge, and experience through education, training, and practical learning, tailored to one’s professional role. It involves actively pursuing growth opportunities beyond formal qualifications, ensuring that individuals stay up to date with evolving industry standards and advancements. This commitment to lifelong learning enables professionals to remain competitive, maintain high standards of practice, and adapt to changing job requirements.
Why Do Dental Professionals Need to Do CPD?
Dental professionals need Continuing Professional Development (CPD) to keep their skills and knowledge up to date. Dentistry is constantly advancing with new research, techniques, and technology, and CPD ensures that practitioners stay current with these changes. By regularly engaging in CPD, dental professionals can provide safe, high-quality care that meets the latest industry standards and legal requirements whilst enhancing patient safety.
Who Regulates the Dental Sector’s CPD Requirements?
The General Dental Council (GDC) regulates dental professionals CPD and enhanced CPD requirements.
What is the General Dental Council (GDC)?
The GDC is the UK regulator for dental professionals. The council has 12 members who meet at multiple times throughout the year to set the strategic direction and outline key organisational changes.
Who are Classed as Dental Professionals?
The GDC splits its registrations into two key areas – dentist registration, and dental care professional (DCP) registrations.
Dental care professionals encompass the dental team roles, applicable across different branches of dentistry, listed below:
- dental nurses
- dental technicians
- dental therapists
- dental hygienists
- orthodontic therapists
- and clinical dental technician.
What Can Be Used Towards GDC Requirements?
CPD encompasses a wide range of dental training activities such as attending workshops, completing dental eLearning, participating in seminars, or even gaining hands-on experience in the workplace.
How Can CPD be Tracked?
CPD can be tracked using a variety of different methods. The GDC providers on online platform for dental professionals to upload and track their CPD records, whilst many learning management systems also provide an online CPD tracking tool. Some professionals opt for manual logs, using spreadsheets or paper-based methods to track the date of the activity, whether the CPD was verifiable or non-verifiable, the subject and provider, how many CPD hours are associated with the activity, and a description or copy of the evidence (e.g. certificate).
Blue Stream Academy’s Dental eLearning and Management platform provides users with an automated CPD training log, outlining the training course title, the completion date, the training type (this can either be a Blue Stream Academy training course or external training which has been uploaded to the training portal), the number of CPD hours, training status (current or expired), and retraining date. The Blue Stream Academy training passport also provides direct links to the course and CPD certificates and provides opportunity for the learner to reflect on their learning experience from each individual dental course.
Do Dental Professionals Need to Complete CPD for Care Quality Commission (CQC) Requirements?
Yes, dental professionals also need to complete Continuing Professional Development (CPD) to meet the standards required by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in the UK. The CQC regulates healthcare services, including dental practices and primary care organisations, to ensure they provide safe, effective, and high-quality care. Part of this involves ensuring that dental professionals maintain up-to-date knowledge and skills, which is where CPD plays a crucial role.
The CQC expects dental teams to demonstrate ongoing learning and improvement through CPD, which helps practices meet the required standards for patient safety, care quality, and regulatory compliance. Additionally, CPD helps professionals stay informed about legal and ethical obligations, such as infection control and safeguarding, which are key focus areas for dental CQC inspections.
Click here to read our blog post exploring the GDC CPD cycle, verifiable vs. non-verifiable CPD, the key areas of dental CPD, planning and recording CPD, and the benefits of CPD.