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What is revalidation and when will it start?
Revalidation is the process by which licensed doctors will be required to demonstrate to the General Medical Council (GMC), through regular local appraisal, that they are up to date and fit to practise and that they are complying with the relevant professional standards.
All doctors with a licence to practise on the GMC register, including those in specialist training and those on the specialist register, will be required to revalidate their licence every 5 years.
The GMC has set out its generic requirements for medical practice and appraisal in the following documents: Good Medical Practice, Good Medical Practice Framework for appraisal & revalidation and Supporting Information for appraisal & revalidation. The GMC has also produced a set of Frequently Asked Questions for doctors relating to revalidation.
Revalidation should start in early December 2012 subject to the Secretary of State for Health giving the final go-ahead.
Based on plans developed by the four UK health departments, the GMC expects to revalidate:
- Responsible officers and other medical leaders, including the four Chief Medical Officers of the UK and the Chair of the GMC, first in early 2013
- About a fifth of licensed doctors between April 2013 and the end of March 2014
- The majority of all licensed doctors by the end of March 2016
- And all remaining licensed doctors by the end of March 2018.