The GDC is currently undertaking a review of its guidance and Standards for the dental team which set out the codes of practice for the profession. They are reviewing the principles of professionalism with a view to developing and refining what professionalism means in healthcare and dentistry today.

It is generally understood by the profession that professionalism relates to behaviours inside and outside of the workplace so that the public will feel confident in the profession. If a dental registrant doesn’t behave professionally, they could be investigated by their employer and ultimately the General Dental Council for breaches of expected behaviours.

But what about a situation in which a member of the dental team ends up being in the wrong place at the wrong time. In this article we consider a real life case which had devastating consequences for a GDC registrant and how we helped them navigate out of their investigations successfully.

Case study – Personal Misconduct

A member of the dental team “person A” was happily working at a reputable dental practice alongside nurses, dentists, hygienists, receptionists and other support staff. The whole dental team attended an office party in the evening outside of work where a good time was had by all. Some members of the dental team went back to one person’s house to stay for the night. Two members of the dental team, Person A and Person B engaged in sexual activity.

WhatsApp messages after the night out and subsequent conversations at work between the members of the dental team, including between Person A and B suggested everyone was happy and that they had all had a good time on their night out.

A month or so later, Person A was invited to a practice meeting with HR, without any notice, when they were informed Person B had made an allegation of sexual assault against them. This came as a complete shock to Person A. Person A was asked inappropriate questions by their HR team in which HR asked them to explain why Person B would make the allegations. They said they were considering terminating their contract with the Practice, without following any process or explaining to Person A what process they were following. They also made inappropriate comments such as, whatever Person A said to them would remain within their four walls. Person A quickly sought legal advice. We engaged with the Practice on their behalf and they kept their job.

The matter was then investigated by the police, NHS England and the General Dental Council. We assisted Person A in all these investigations. For the interview under caution we prepared a detailed statement on their behalf about the events which took place and submitted supportive statements from their colleagues, together with the WhatsApp message exchanges. More than a year later the police closed their case. The police confirmed there were many inconsistencies in Person B’s account, which was not supported by other information. The police confirmed Person B had also described consent and had admitted Person A had said they did not need to do this.

By this time however, Person A had been subject to an interim orders committee hearing before the GDC, which following submissions concluded there was insufficient evidence of risk to support an interim order of suspension. We then submitted a formal response to the GDC’s Rule 4 allegations which was still requested even though the police had closed their investigation. The Case Examiners concluded the case with no further action.

Conclusion

The above hung over Person A for many years. They were however a popular and well respected member of their dental team and so we were able to gather supportive material on their behalf relatively easily. Person A also acted quickly in seeking legal advice.

It’s important to obtain advice in relation to any personal or professional misconduct matter from specialists in healthcare professional regulation, as soon as possible. Ultimately, what is said to other parties, such as to the police and your employers will be seen by NHS England and/or the General Dental Council, so the tests they apply in considering fitness to practise need to be borne in mind when preparing any response.