Revalidation

Revalidation is the process by which licensed doctors will, in future, be required to demonstrate to the GMC, on a regular basis, that they remain up to date and fit to practise.  Revalidation will be based on a local evaluation of doctors' performance against national generic and specialty standards approved by the GMC in order to maintain their licence to practice.

The purpose of revalidation is to assure patients and the public that licensed doctors are up to date and practising in accordance with the values and principles set out in the GMC's core ethical guidance for doctors Good Medical Practice (GMP).

Doctors will be expected to participate in annual appraisal in the workplace and will be required to collect information about their professional practice which demonstrates that they are practising to the appropriate professional standards. This information will provide the basis for discussion at an annual appraisal.

The Good Medical Practice Framework for Appraisal and Revalidation is based on the core guidance - Good Medical Practice (2006) and will form the basis of a standard approach for appraisal. The GMC document Supporting Information for Revalidation and Appraisal  provides guidance regarding the supporting information that you will need to provide at your annual appraisal and the frequency with which it should be provided.

Every five years, the doctor's Responsible Officer will make a submission to the GMC about the doctor's suitability to be revalidated. This submission will be based on the outcome of the doctor's annual appraisals over the course of five years together with information drawn from local governance systems. The GMC's decision whether or not to revalidate a doctor for a further five years will be based on the Responsible Officer's submission

Timescales

• November 2009 - The GMC issued all doctors with a licence to practise as the first step towards revalidation.
• January 2011 - All Responsible Officers due to be in place throughout the UK.
• March 2011 - The NHS Pathfinder Pilots completed.
• February 2011 - Tri-Faculty Revalidation Pilot (FPM, Faculty of Occupational Medicine and Faculty of Public Health) to commence, scheduled for completion December 2011.
• Autumn 2011 - A further round of Revalidation Support Team (RST) pilots scheduled to start to test the new streamlined system of revalidation.
• Summer 2012 - A final assessment of readiness with the objective of implementing revalidation on an incremental basis late 2012/early 2013.

It anticipated that for appraisal and revalidation, supporting information will be collated in an electronic portfolio. We are currently investigating the practicalities of this in conjunction with other medical specialties. We will keep you informed as this work develops.

If you have any queries, whether or not you are a member of the Faculty, please contact Susan Paterson, Professional Development Administrator or Dr Susan Bews, Medical Lead, Revalidation via email to revalidationqueries@fpm.org.uk or phone 020 7831 7662 extension 24.

STATEMENT FROM THE MHRA - June 2010
'When the pharmaceutical industry submits documents to the MHRA, which are signed by a medical practitioner, it would normally be expected that the person would be a licensed medical practitioner'.

For further information on:

• Timescales for revalidation - GMC Statement of Intent October 2010
• General Revalidation Questions - follow the link to the GMC Frequently Asked Questions

Other useful documents:

• The Faculty's Interim Guidance for Revalidation (November 2010)
• Good Pharmaceutical Medical Practice (GPMP)