Background

We began to develop our proposals for revalidation in 1998. This work was put on hold at the beginning of 2005 when the Government launched parallel reviews of both medical and non-medical regulation.

Following those reviews, the Government’s February 2007 White Paper, Trust, Assurance and Safety – The Regulation of Health Professionals in the 21st Centuryopens in new window, sets out its proposals for the reform of healthcare regulation. The proposals were wide-ranging and covered many different aspects of regulation, including revalidation.

The White Paper built upon the revalidation plans that the GMC had been developing prior to 2005, and reflected our later thinking as set out in our 2006 Proposals on Healthcare Professional Regulation.

We have welcomed the White Paper proposals as providing the basis for a lasting settlement in relation to professional regulation. The work necessary to implement revalidation is now well underway.

Other White Paper reforms

The White Paper proposals also affect other aspects of medical regulation. They include:

  • The establishment of the Office of the Health Professions Adjudicator (OHPA) to adjudicate on fitness to practise cases.
  • The introduction of the civil standard of proof in fitness to practise cases.
  • Changes to the governance of the GMC
  • Changes in relation to medical education.