Can a third party resist a request for information made by General Dental Council investigators under section 33(B) of the Dentists Act 1984 and if so, how?

A GDC investigation into an allegation that a practitioner’s fitness to practise is impaired may only arise by reason of one or more of the following grounds (see sections 27 and 36N of the Dentists Act 1984 (DA 1984)):

1. •

   misconduct

2. •

   deficient professional performance

3. •

   adverse physical or mental health

4. •

   criminal conviction or caution

5. •

   a determination by a body in the UK responsible under any enactment for the regulation of a health or social care professional or by the Office of the Health Professions Adjudicator, to the effect that their fitness to practise as a member of that profession is impaired

6. •

   inclusion on a barred list by the Disclosure and Barring Service

7. •

   not