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Local Dental Committees
General Dental Council Concerns
Introduction
PLMR met on Friday 5th September with a small group of dentists, concerned about recent actions
being taken by the General Dental Council (GDC). In the course of that discussion a strategy
framework was developed for communicating those views clearly and effectively over the coming
months, in such a way as to act as a catalyst for change in the sector in the interests of providing
better care for patients. The following note sets out the broad framework for such an initiative and
the associated costs.
The recent activities of the GDC have been the subject of open letters from large groups of Dentists
as represented by the Local Dental Committees (LDCs). The LDCs are concerned about a number of
issues that can be broadly summarised as follows:
A 64% increase in registration fees
An advertising campaign to solicit complaints from patients
The Chair of the GDC not being a practising or former dentist
Dentists no longer have the ability to elect the Chair of the GDC, who instead is appointed
Objectives
The objectives of this initiative would be to:
Secure a much lower increase in registration fees, more in line with the rate of inflation
Increase the local resolution of complaints
Bring about a change of leadership within the General Dental Council
Secure a return to a system of election for the Chair of the General Dental Council
A new fairer contract for delivering dental services within the NHS
Strategy
The objectives set out above will only be achieved with a considerably raised level of public and
political awareness of the issues facing dentistry. At present the dispute has received little media or
Ministerial attention. Responses received have been less than encouraging. To achieve any
likelihood of change there will need to be a considerable rising of the temperature by setting in train
a selection of co-ordinated events and related PR activities including, for example:
A special conference of the Local Dental Committees
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o This unprecedented event would generate a significant news hook and an
opportunity to create a moment or two of drama around the issues.
A survey of dentists attitudes towards remaining in the profession as a result of these issues
o The results of such a survey could generate further coverage of the issue in the press
and give opportunities to further promote the results of the recent BDA survey.
Highlighting the period of ten days when the GDC is set to have insufficient funds to function
properly, before the new charges set in
Generating case studies of dentists set to leave the profession, emigrate or cease delivering
NHS care as a result of the changes
Staging a Dentists Demo From Wimpole Street to Whitehall and Westminster
PR activities highlighting the huge increase in costs at the GDC (845% in ten years?)
Holding a Parliamentary event targeting backbenchers in marginal constituencies –
approaching them via dentists practising in their seats
Running a co-ordinated email your MP campaign with a view to provoking a series of
parliamentary questions designed to put direct pressure on Ministers to review the situation
Scrutinising the performance of the GDA against typical regulator standards and releasing
any findings with associated comment to the media
Identifying creative ways of highlighting the anger and resentment in the profession, with
some level of non-cooperation with the GDA
All the above activities, scheduled in quick succession, will result in high level ministerial attention
being given to the issue. They will be seized upon by shadow ministers and health reporters and
columnists. With luck a wider audience will begin to appreciate the anger being felt within the
profession. Eventually a sense that ‘something must be done’ will emerge.
As the General Election approaches there will be a strong desire amongst Conservative strategists to
quickly sort out any high profile examples of the government appearing to be incompetent. Senior
Conservative strategist Lynton Crosby is keen to scrape off any ‘barnacles’ that might be attached to
the hull of the good ship Tory Victory. The aim of this initiative would be to become a big enough
barnacle to become noticed and dealt with.
Campaign key message
A dental profession run and regulated by dentists is better for patient care.
Working together
This campaign will depend on a consistent drip feed of media stories. For this to work we need to
make sure that the stories we are selling in are strong enough to make it into the national news.
There may be a need for a further planning session with dentist colleagues to agree the lines we can
take, any research we will need to generate and any added elements of colour and human interest
to beef stories out. Those we have met so far have given us the impression they are willing to be
bold and newsworthy. This will be vital for the success of the campaign. We will also need to prepare
for and take careful steps to prevent any backlash against the profession.
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The media campaign will need to be meticulously thought through in advance. To maximise impact
exclusive deals with broadcasters and key publications will need to be carefully planned. Well placed
stories with influential journalists will help to raise the profile. Sky News and Radio 4’s Today
programme are key agenda setting news outlets. Other papers will be key for highlighting the
growing sense of disquiet.
It will be important to identify early on who will be a spokesperson for the campaign or which few.
They need to be ready to comment at a drop of a hat and rapid sign off processes will be required
for getting quotes into the media. PLMR will also be able to provide media training for whichever
spokespeople are appointed.
A similar level of speedy liaison will be required for MP engagement and PLMR will need access to
the diaries of key campaign individuals when securing ministerial meetings.
Survey Data
The proposed survey of dentists will require careful management to ensure that the results are
newsworthy and robust enough to withstand detailed scrutiny. PLMR will work closely with the local
dental committees to draft and test any survey and analyse the results to ensure that they are
recognised to be valid and accurate.
Targeting Marginal Constituencies
MPs and candidates in marginal constituencies hold particular sway over their parties at this stage in
the electoral cycle. PLMR has an excellent working relationship with ComRes who conduct regular
‘Omnibus’ polling in battleground seats. A quick poll here would help to show how influential
dentistry issues could be on the result of the election, and help to focus political minds.
PLMR will map out the health connections of candidates in marginal constituencies and this
information can be used to further target efforts.
Social media
Within the time frame available, an intensive, integrated social media campaign will be an essential
element for success. Mechanisms for people to share information rapidly about the campaign will
be built in at every stage. The campaign will need a microsite or blog to act as a central hub for
stories about the GDC and for dentists to keep up to date with progress. We will want to establish a
good working relationship with the BDA to draw on their resources and social media footprint.
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Conclusion
PLMR firmly believes that there is huge scope for a successful campaign to force the GDC to at least
think again on its charging and complaints policies and potentially for other more fundamental
changes to be secured. At the very least, the current set of circumstances creates an excellent
opportunities for Dentists to be heard clearly and to put down a strong marker for future encounters
with regulators and the government.
In our experience a campaign of this sort will take a fairly high level of resourcing over a short period
of time. Our estimate at this stage is that the campaign could successfully be run at a fee level of £8k
per month with a view to achieving tangible results over a 4 to 6 month timescale. This would enable
us to devote in the region of 45 consultancy hours per month to the campaign at our aggregated fee
rate of £180 per hour, and would ensure that you had a dedicated team in place to react rapidly to
media and political opportunities.
You will have a dedicated team of consultants at your disposal throughout the campaign, with
experience of running similar successful lobbying campaigns in the past. They in turn will be able to
draw on our company wide team of over 35 individual consultants with decades of experience in the
political and PR arena.
We recognise the importance of moving quickly with this campaign as events shift on a daily basis.
The opportunity to capitalise on the huge disquiet within the profession is now and consultation and
constitutional deadlines are fast approaching. To that end PLMR is on hand and available to start
work on this campaign at a moment’s notice. We are hugely looking forward to working with you.
Yours sincerely,
Steven Gauge Danny Wilding
For and on behalf of PLMR