General Dental Practice Committee
The General Dental Practice Committee (GDPC) represents all general dental practitioners in the UK and aims to reflect the mixed economy of dental practice.
The GDPC is the official representative body for GDPs. This means it negotiates with Government and other stakeholders on behalf of dentists working in general practice across the UK and is recognised by Government as the official representative body in negotiations and consultations.
Who sits on GDPC?
The current Chair is Shawn Charlwood and the Vice Chairs are Shiv Pabary and Vijay Sudra.
There are
72 directly elected members of the Committee, three members from LDC Conference, a representative of the Conference of Vocational Training Advisers and there are a number of seats for other organisations.
The Chair and Vice-Chair of the BDA's
Principal Executive Committee are also non-voting members of the Committee.
Members are elected for three-year terms.
The GDPC typically meets three times a year. It will also hold additional meetings in exceptional circumstances. This occurred most recently when the Committee determined its response to NHS England's marginal changes package for the NHS General Dental Service.
What issues does the GDPC work on?
The GDPC represents the interests of its members through engagement with Government stakeholders about the contractual arrangements for dentistry, and the funding environment that underpins those arrangements. You can read more about some of these issues in this blog from Shawn Charlwood, Chair of GDPC: Can the new government keep its promises on dentistry?
The GDPC Remuneration Sub-Committee deals with aspects of dental remuneration for both NHS and private practitioners.
It prepares the GDP element of evidence to the Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration (DDRB), alongside the Review Body Evidence Committee, and contributes to reports and policy papers on general practice finance and business expenses. In its report for the 2022-2023 financial year, the DDRB recommended a pay uplift of 4.5 percent for NHS General Dental Practitioners. The BDA responded to this recommendation can be found here: Latest News Articles Record-breaking cuts to real incomes will fuel exodus from NHS.
The BDA hosts meetings of the
Local Dental Committees (LDCs) regional representatives and oversees a
GDPC-LDC liaison group, to ensure that both groups share information and work together to achieve common aims.
Want to get involved?
Seats can become available post-election, and by-elections are then held - if you would like to stand,
please see if there is a current seat available in your area.
For more information get in touch with our
elections team.
Keep up-to-date
To keep up-to-date with the BDA's work on a wide range of topics, please ensure we have your correct email address (you can update it via the
My BDA section) to receive our monthly e-newsletter and e-alerts or call our membership team to update your details, on 020 7563 4550.
BDA blogs include opinions from GDPC members and other stakeholders.
You can follow the @BDA on Twitter and
Instagram for latest news updates.
Contact us
If you would like further information regarding the GDPC please email the Senior Policy Advisor for General Dental Practitioners, Tim Connolly, tim.connolly@bda.org.
