Expert advisor/Witness used in case reference: CAS-174594-D2X3z8.

Barbara Jones made this Freedom of Information request to General Dental Council This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

The request was partially successful.

Dear General Dental Council,

This relates to a complaint made for which the reference was: CAS-174594-D2X3Z8.

Please provide the following information concerning the expert advisor, or witness, used in this case:

1) Who was the person who gave his/her opinion concerning the serious complaint made against the dentist in this case? In the event the identity is not provided, please state the gender of the person involved.

2) What qualifications did this person hold to advise the GDC?

3) What checks were made to ensure there were no conflicts of interest, or that this person would give impartial advice?

4) When the person who made the complaint raised objections to the findings and decision, did the GDC obtain a second opinion as to the advice given by the expert advisor, or witness?

5) Given it can be proved the expert advisor, or witness, failed to give appropriate advice and this was notified to you, why were no further steps taken to remedy matters?

6) Since the dentist undertook work on the wrong tooth which was demonstrated in X-Rays and advice from another dentist seen by the patient whom you consulted, please explain how the expert witness found the dentist responsible for the grossly negligent work was fit to practice?

7) When the patient consulted an endodontist to have the dentist's work remedied and he supported the fact the dentist had undertaken work on the wrong tooth, why was this not taken into consideration?

Yours faithfully,

Barbara Jones

Freedom of Information Requests, General Dental Council

Thank you for your message, which has been received by the Freedom of
Information (FOI) Team at the General Dental Council.

 

We aim to acknowledge official requests for information individually.
Please note however, in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act you
will receive a response to any FOI request within 20 working days, the
first day being the working day following our receipt of your query. Any
request under the Data Protection Act will be answered within 40 calendar
days, the first day being the same day as receipt of your query.

 

In either case, we will respond as soon as possible.

 

Any query sent to this e mail address which does not relate to FOI or Data
Protection will be forwarded to the relevant team for response.

 

Thank you for contacting the General Dental Council.

 

Freedom of Information Team

Phone +44 (0)20 7167 6000

General Dental Council | 37 Wimpole Street | London | W1G 8DQ

Web: [1]www.gdc-uk.org

 

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Dental regulating the dental team
Council

 

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Freedom of Information Requests, General Dental Council

Dear Ms Jones,
 
Thank you for your request for information (below). Your request was
received on 2nd May 2017. We are dealing with it under the terms of the
Freedom of Information Act 2000 (‘the FOI Act’).
 
We have looked into the case reference you quoted and have found that the
facts in the case differ from the facts which you have set out in your
questions, and that no details of that case have been made public by the
GDC.  It is not clear how you have obtained the case reference, and what
involvement (professional or personal), if any, you have had in the case,
which was decided in November 2015.
 
As you may be aware from the information on our website regarding the
fitness to practice process
([1]https://www.gdc-uk.org/patients/raising-...),
most stages of that process are private and confidential, including the
Investigating Committee (‘IC’) stage (which this case reference relates
to), and therefore it would be unlikely that the GDC would release
information into the public domain under the Freedom of Information Act,
as it would be exempt from disclosure under several exemptions, including
prejudice to the GDC’s regulatory functions (section 31 exemption) and
personal information of the registrant and expert adviser involved
(section 40(2) exemption).  We have also established that the case quoted
ended at IC stage i.e. it did not go on to the final (public hearing)
stage.  
 
Please can you clarify whether, perhaps, you have quoted the wrong case
reference?   If you are able to supply a different case reference, and we
find that case went to the public hearing stage, we would be more likely
to be able to respond to your request with some information.  Until we
receive clarification from you, we will be unable to process the request.
Upon clarification, the GDC will process your request as promptly as
possible, however, please note the FOI Act allows public authorities (the
GDC) up to 20 working days to provide a response. We therefore look
forward to hearing from you.
 
Your request suggests that you have some concerns about the expert advice
the GDC obtained in the case, and the outcome of the case. Again, it is
not clear from whom you have obtained this information, and whether you
are perhaps making these representations on behalf of the patient?  As you
may be aware, the patient will already have been advised by the GDC of
his/her appeal rights should he/she be unhappy with the outcome of the FTP
case at the time of being notified of the outcome (in November 2015). 
Alternatively, you may wish to consider complaining anew under the fitness
to practice process, which would fully consider your concerns privately
[2]https://www.gdc-uk.org/patients/raising-...,
rather than your pursuing them through a Freedom of Information request in
a public forum, which is ill-suited for the proper investigation of a
complaint against a professional.
 
If this Team does not receive any clarifying information from you within
one month, we will treat your FOI request as closed.
Clearly, this would not prevent you, or a patient you may represent, from
pursuing your concerns through either the established process for
appealing FTP outcomes, or a new FTP complaint, as explained above. 
 
Yours sincerely,
 
Rosemary Cairns| Freedom of Information Team
General Dental Council | 37 Wimpole Street | London | W1G 8DQ
Phone: +44 (0)20 7167 6000
Web: [3]www.gdc-uk.org
 

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Dear General Dental Council,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of General Dental Council's handling of my FOI request 'Expert advisor/Witness used in case reference: CAS-174594-D2X3z8.'.

The Case reference quoted can be confirmed as being correct.

There is a public interest in establishing the background to the expert who was asked to act in this case. The reason for this is due to serious flaws in the evidence that was given. The manner in which this was dealt with favoured the dentist and failed to expose her shortcomings, plus very poor standards of work. It is in the public interest for this information to be available as it reflects on the ability of the General Dental Council to act impartially and regulate dentists who are unable to work to any sort of professional standards. I am happy to list the details and name of the dentist concerned as it is in the public interest to do so.

It appears from reading other FOI requests on this site that there are serious misgivings about the expert witnesses used by the GDC. The overall impression is that the evidence they provide is biased and allows the GDC to avoid any action against the dentist. This allows dentists who are unfit to work to continue mistreating patients.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/e...

Yours faithfully,

Barbara Jones

Freedom of Information Requests, General Dental Council

Thank you for your message, which has been received by the Freedom of
Information (FOI) Team at the General Dental Council.

 

We aim to acknowledge official requests for information individually.
Please note however, in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act you
will receive a response to any FOI request within 20 working days, the
first day being the working day following our receipt of your query. Any
request under the Data Protection Act will be answered within 40 calendar
days, the first day being the same day as receipt of your query.

 

In either case, we will respond as soon as possible.

 

Any query sent to this e mail address which does not relate to FOI or Data
Protection will be forwarded to the relevant team for response.

 

Thank you for contacting the General Dental Council.

 

Freedom of Information Team

Phone +44 (0)20 7167 6000

General Dental Council | 37 Wimpole Street | London | W1G 8DQ

Web: [1]www.gdc-uk.org

 

General protecting patients,
Dental regulating the dental team
Council

 

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Registered office: General Dental Council, 37 Wimpole St, London, W1G 8DQ.

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Freedom of Information Requests, General Dental Council

Dear Ms Jones,

Thank you for providing the clarification confirming that the case number quoted in the original request is correct. The additional information that you have provided regarding your view of the public interest in disclosure is helpful.

The GDC will process your request as promptly as possible, however, please note it will take up to 20 working days to provide a response – the deadline is therefore 14th June 2017. If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely,

Grace Perry| Information Officer| Freedom of Information Team General Dental Council | 37 Wimpole Street | London | W1G 8DQ
Phone: +44 (0)20 7167 6000
Web: www.gdc-uk.org

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Freedom of Information Requests, General Dental Council

1 Attachment

Dear Ms Jones,

Please see the attached response to your request for information.

Yours sincerely,
Grace Perry
GDC FOI Team

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Dear Freedom of Information Requests,

It is disappointing to find you continue to obstruct this request for information on the misconduct of both dentist and your (so called) professional advisor. It is in the public interest for the background to this to be in the public domain. How is it that a dentist who fails in her treatment of a patient in such a grave manner can be allowed to continue to practise without censure?

It is clear that the GDC colludes with dentists who are unfit and fail in their Duty of Care.

Yours sincerely,

Barbara Jones

Freedom of Information Requests, General Dental Council

Thank you for your message, which has been received by the Freedom of
Information (FOI) Team at the General Dental Council.

 

We aim to acknowledge official requests for information individually.
Please note however, in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act you
will receive a response to any FOI request within 20 working days, the
first day being the working day following our receipt of your query. Any
request under the Data Protection Act will be answered within 40 calendar
days, the first day being the same day as receipt of your query.

 

In either case, we will respond as soon as possible.

 

Any query sent to this e mail address which does not relate to FOI or Data
Protection will be forwarded to the relevant team for response.

 

Thank you for contacting the General Dental Council.

 

Freedom of Information Team

Phone +44 (0)20 7167 6000

General Dental Council | 37 Wimpole Street | London | W1G 8DQ

Web: [1]www.gdc-uk.org

 

General protecting patients,
Dental regulating the dental team
Council

 

[2]f [3]t [4]You Tube [5]Sign up to our newsletter

 

If you have received this email in error please read on:

show quoted sections

Registered office: General Dental Council, 37 Wimpole St, London, W1G 8DQ.

References

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2. https://www.facebook.com/pages/General-D...
3. https://twitter.com/GDC_UK
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