Mick Armstrong, chair of the British Dental Association’s Principal Executive Committee, said:
“Today the GDC has decided to stand by its flawed consultation. We are disappointed but not surprised by the regulator’s arguments. We do not accept they have answered the questions we posed, and we will be exploring our options with our lawyers in the days ahead. And let me assure you we will put the interests of dentists first.
“The GDC has chosen to publish its response to our legal challenge. Members of the profession are entitled to a complete picture, and in the spirit of transparency we are publishing the full correspondence between our lawyers and the GDC.
“Its response took 18 days and takes up seven pages. Dentists can judge for themselves if it has provided the answers we require.”
In its press release, the GDC revealed it has already received 4,000 individual submissions to the consultation. The regulator has set aside two weeks from the close of submissions on 4 September to consider these responses ahead of a final decision on 18 September.
Mick Armstrong added:
“The GDC has left barely a fortnight to weigh up the views and evidence from thousands. Again we will leave it to dentists to draw their own conclusions.”