Revalidation for UK doctors: assuring standards in medicine
From the 16th of November this year, a major change in medical regulation will take place which should help to ensure that all doctors and GPs are competent at their jobs and up to date with all the latest treatments and techniques in their field, revalidation.
The change will mean that all doctors who want to work in the UK will need a licence to practise in addition to their General Medical Council (GMC) registration, which is already mandatory. Every five years, they will each have to go through a revalidation process in order to retain their licence and continue to practise medicine.
There will be two elements to the revalidation process: relicensing and recertification.
Relicensing involves doctors being able to demonstrate that they practise medicine in accordance with the standards set out in Good Medical Practice, while recertification involves doctors on the general practice and specialist registers having to show that they meet the high standards that apply to their particular area of work.
Together, these two strands will form a single integrated process. The required information for both types of evaluation will be essentially the same - documentary evidence of the way each doctor works in practice and of what they have done to keep abreast of the latest developments in their specialist field.
Revalidation is designed to ensure that all doctors uphold the stringent standards that are expected of them both by patients and by their peers.
Patients have the right to expect up-to-date, high-quality treatment, and Revalidation will help to safeguard that right and demonstrate that doctors in the UK health care system are fulfilling their professional obligations.
The change will mean that all doctors who want to work in the UK will need a licence to practise in addition to their General Medical Council (GMC) registration, which is already mandatory. Every five years, they will each have to go through a revalidation process in order to retain their licence and continue to practise medicine.
There will be two elements to the revalidation process: relicensing and recertification.
Relicensing involves doctors being able to demonstrate that they practise medicine in accordance with the standards set out in Good Medical Practice, while recertification involves doctors on the general practice and specialist registers having to show that they meet the high standards that apply to their particular area of work.
Together, these two strands will form a single integrated process. The required information for both types of evaluation will be essentially the same - documentary evidence of the way each doctor works in practice and of what they have done to keep abreast of the latest developments in their specialist field.
Revalidation is designed to ensure that all doctors uphold the stringent standards that are expected of them both by patients and by their peers.
Patients have the right to expect up-to-date, high-quality treatment, and Revalidation will help to safeguard that right and demonstrate that doctors in the UK health care system are fulfilling their professional obligations.
