Dentists prepare for costly complaints by patients

The General Dental Council has imposed a 50 per cent increase in their annual registration fee

The General Dental Council raises annual fees to cope with troubles ahead (Rex)

Dentists have failed in their attempt to overturn a 50 per cent increase in the registration fee imposed by their "autocratic and high-handed" regulator because it expects a massive rise in complaints by patients next year.

The General Dental Council (GDC) decided to put the annual fee up from £576 to £890, to help pay for the cost of dealing with an expected 4,000 complaints against dentists and care staff in 2015 and an estimated 638 "fitness to practise" hearings, which cost an average of £78,000 each. The figures show the GDC is expecting cases where dentists face losing their licence to rise by more than 115 per cent next year.

After a legal challenge by the British Dental Association (BDA), a High Court judge deemed the GDC's decision-making process had been "unlawful", with a "gaping hole in the GDC annual retention fee consultation".

However, Mr Justice Cranston allowed the dental regulator to charge the higher fee after it warned that it could run out of money by August, without extra funding.

Peter Ward, chief executive of the BDA, said there was "a lot of smoke and mirrors" involved in the calculation of the figures.

"What the dentists have seen over the past few years is a very autocratic, high-handed regulator making statements, making judgements and then demanding things, and this was really the last straw," said Mr Ward.

"This isn't about pleading hardship.... It's the fundamental principle of fairness."

Mr Ward said that the judge's finding of unlawfulness was significant, but said he understood why he decided against preventing the fee increase. "The judge's concerns were the result of the GDC admitting that it [cannot] manage its funds effectively. These admissions are deeply concerning," he said.

In submissions made to the High Court, the GDC said: "[GDC's] assessment is that if it charges dentists at the 2010 … level [it] will have exhausted its reserves and have no funds at all to continue its work by August 2015." The fees are the main source of income for the GDC.

In a statement, the GDC said it "recognises that Mr Justice Cranston found there was a procedural error" in the consultation process.

"However, we are pleased that he also recognised that the GDC has to be properly funded in order to carry out its duties," it said.