Dental Professionals Hearings Service
Capturing impartiality in a new brandThe General Dental Council is the UK-wide statutory regulator of around 114,000 members of the dental team. Its primary purpose is to protect patient safety and maintain public confidence in dental services. To achieve this, it registers qualified dental professionals, sets standards for the dental team, investigates complaints about dental professionals' fitness to practise, and works to ensure the quality of dental education.
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In safe hands
Not everyone looks forward to a trip to the dentist. But they should look forward to a competent dental professional looking after their teeth and dental hygiene.
Occasionally this is not the case, and if there are concerns about a dental professionals’ fitness to practice, patients deserve the right to take their concerns further and seek redress.
Like all health and care regulators in the UK, the General Dental Council (GDC) runs a hearings service where patient concerns are heard by a committee of three panel members made up of dental professionals and lay people who are independent of the GDC and other parties involved. And in common with other regulators, the GDC felt that it needed a separate brand for its hearings service, to further highlight its independence from its investigation and prosecution functions. This would reinforce its impartiality and independence, giving reassurance to patients and dental professionals alike.
Accessibility at its heart
The service’s name was decided upon: the Dental Professionals Hearings Service. Its new brand identity needed to speak with authority and without bias to the public, patients, and professionals.
A new logo, made up of two quotation marks turned sideways and placed so they create a simple ‘D’ representing ‘dental’ at the start of the name, illustrates the dialogue at hearings while two different colours reflect the two sides.
We chose a free-to-use, easy-to-read typeface from Google called Outfit.
The colour palette is made up of four colours from the GDC’s own palette. These, along with lighter and darker versions for variety in design, ensure accessibility when a few simple type rules are followed.
The brand identity included a suite of icons designed to show balance and fairness by incorporating colours representing both parties as well as the hearing service. Wherever possible the design is symmetrical to reinforce a message of balance.
Clear, directional signage was designed for the dedicated spaces in which the hearings are held in-person.
We designed a new website working with the in-house digital team. It pulls together the guidance for dental professionals, representatives, and patients, as well as practical information about how and where hearings take place. It follows a simple design that aims to be reassuring and informative for anyone that needs to access the service, whichever side they find themselves on. Website user testing was completed by our partner Hertech.
“Understandably there is a sense of anxiety for both parties if someone is raising a concern about a dental professional. The Dental Professionals Hearings Service’s identity and the website share a commitment to demonstrating the hearing service’s independence and impartiality, as well as being accessible to all.”
Peter Mills, brand strategist, Brand Ethos.
The website can be seen here https://www.dentalhearings.org.
