Edgar Gordon has been a registrant since 1954. He retired from clinical dentistry in 1988 and presently prepares dento-legal reports for solicitors and medical reporting agencies. In 2010 the Council wrote to Mr Gordon ‘we cannot provide you with any reassurance that registration is not required for retired dentists who wish to write dento-legal reports’. Late last year the GDC’s Registrar informed Mr Gordon that she was not satisfied that he had completed sufficient non-verifiable CPD to comply with his 2009-2013 cycle and issued a Notice of Erasure.
Mr Gordon intends to be an appellant-in-person, He has been told by the Registrar that his appeal ‘is unlikely to succeed’ and that she ‘reserved the right to seek a costs order which would be approximately £1000 plus VAT. In addition, the GDC solicitors will accrue costs for instructing counsel, advising the Registration Department and attending the appeal. These would be charged at £250 per hour and it is estimated the likely time spent will be between 10 and 20 hours’.
Under a FOIA request the GDC has admitted: “We confirm that we do not hold any information in relation to any costs order being made against and individual by the Council in relation to the Registration or CPD Appeals between 2009 and 2013.”
The Registrar has agreed that Edgar’s verifiable CPD was 85 hours which exceeds the 75 required in regulations. The appeal is scheduled to be heard later this month. The issue of proportionality is likely to be the basis of appeal.
The appeal took place on March 24, 2015.