Present

A year ago, in my Comment entitled ‘Absent’,¹ I wrote a sad and sorry tale of how the General Dental Council (GDC) had spent registrant's cash on booking a stand at the British Dental Association (BDA) Annual Conference in Manchester, and how the Chairman of Council and the Chief Executive were ‘absent’. In other words, they did not attend Manchester to man the stand, thereby missing a wonderful opportunity to interact with their public, the dentists of the UK. I took a photograph of the stand (used in ‘Absent’) and, for my trouble, I received a letter advising me that I had been threatening to the staff on the stand by taking the photograph!

I am therefore pleased to report a sea-change insofar as, while the GDC again had a stand at the BDA Conference, I was delighted to find it populated, among others, by the newly appointed permanent Chief Executive and Registrar, Mr Ian Brack, who I was delighted to meet. Although in my two days at the Conference I did not notice the Chairman of Council at the meeting (but I might be wrong as I was not there 24/7), the Chief Executive was present for the duration and actually appeared to enjoy speaking with his public. This is exactly what was needed – a potentially acceptable and friendly face of the GDC being accessible, as opposed to high-handed methods which have been employed with registrants in the recent past. There was also a chance for the new Chief Executive to meet all the top people from the Protection Societies/Associations who were represented at the meeting, notwithstanding the BDA hierarchy. In addition, a high proportion of the conference delegates were young dentists in their FD1 year, who hopefully will have spoken to Mr Brack regarding the worries that some have expressed regarding their futures.