After registration
This guidance has been written for doctors and sets out the information you need to know once you have been registered.
Contents
- 1. GMC Online
- 2. Maintaining your registration and licence to practise
- 3. Notifying us of completion of 12 months practice in an approved practice setting
- 4. Relinquishing your licence to practise or taking voluntary erasure of your name from the Register
- 5. Restoring your name to the Register
- 6. Applying for or restoring your licence to practise
- 7. Certificate of proof of entry on the Register
- 8. Certificates of Good Standing
- 9. Insurance and Professional Indemnity
To request a Certificate of Good Standing complete the online form.
1. GMC Online
If you hold registration with us, or if you have previously held registration or applied to take the PLAB test, you will have a GMC reference number.
This means that you can use our secure web portal, GMC Online (opens in a new window), to manage your registration and licence to practise if you have one.
You can use it to apply for different types of registration, pay your fees, update your contact details and apply to relinquish your registration and/or your licence to practise if you have one.
If you have never logged into GMC Online and do not have log in details, you can activate your account here.
Activate account (opens in a new window)
2. Maintaining your registration and licence to practise
To maintain your registration, and licence to practise if you have one, you need to keep your contact details up-to-date and pay your annual retention fee.
You can find out how to update your contact details and change your name on the Register in our guidance on updating your details.
If you have full registration you must pay an annual retention fee to maintain your registration, and licence to practise if you have one. The annual retention fee is usually due on the anniversary of the date on which you were granted full registration.
If you hold provisional registration you must pay a provisional registration fee for the first two years of your registration. From the second anniversary of your provisional registration onwards you must pay an annual retention fee.
We recommend that you pay your annual retention fee by Direct Debit.
If you do not pay your annual retention fee, we will remove your name from the Register and you will no longer be able to practise medicine in the UK.
For more information about fees, how to pay by Direct Debit, other ways to pay, and current fee levels, please see our guidance on fees (opens in a new window).
3. Notifying us of completion of 12 months practice in an approved practice setting (APS)
This guidance only applies to doctors who are required to work in an APS.
For the first 12 months of your employment in the UK at the level of a fully registered medical practitioner you are required to work in an APS.
This requirement stops after the 12 month period. To reflect this on your LRMP entry you need to notify us by completing an on-line process.
Please see our guidance on notifying us of completion of 12 months practice in an APS (opens in a new window) for details of what you need to do.
4. Relinquishing your licence to practise or taking voluntary erasure of your name from the Register
If you are not engaged in medical practice or in other work that requires you to be registered with or without a licence to practise you can choose to either:
- Relinquish your licence to practise (if you have one)
The main advantages of relinquishing your licence to practise are that you will pay a reduced annual retention fee during periods when you do not need to be licensed to practise, and you will not be charged a fee if you apply to have your licence to practise restored.
- Relinquish your registration (voluntary erasure)
The main advantages of voluntary erasure are that you will not have to pay an annual retention fee during periods when you do not need to be registered and you will not be charged a restoration fee if you subsequently apply to have your name restored to the Register.
If you intend to apply to relinquish your licence to practise or take voluntary erasure while holding a contract of employment as a medical practitioner in the United Kingdom we advise you to discuss the matter with your employing authority.
You should not assume that your licence to practise has been removed from the Register until you have received a letter from us confirming this.
There is no fee for relinquishing your licence to practise or removing your name from the Register.
Please see our guidance on relinquishing your licence to practise (opens in a new window) or guidance on voluntary erasure (opens in a new window) for information about how to apply.
5. Restoring your name to the Register
You will need to make an application to have your name restored to the Register. If you intend to practise medicine in the UK, you are required, by law, to have a licence to practise. As part of the application for restoration you will be asked if you want to have a licence to practise, you do not need to make a separate application.
If you have voluntarily relinquished your registration (voluntary erasure), or have been erased after failing to pay your annual retention fee or failing to maintain an effective registered address, you may apply for restoration to the Register. If you applied for voluntary erasure, there is no fee for restoration. If you were erased for failing to pay your annual retention fee or failing to maintain an effective registered address, then you will have to pay the restoration fee.
For more information about fees, please read our fees guidance (opens in a new window).
When you apply for restoration, you must attend one of our offices for an identity check before we restore your name to the Register. For information about pre-registration identification checks please read our guidance on identity checks (opens in a new window).
6. Applying for or restoring your licence to practise
If you are currently registered but do not hold a licence to practise your can apply for one.
You can read guidance on how to do this which depends on whether you want to apply:
OR
7. Certificates of proof of entry on the Register
If you lose your registration certificate (or you are planning to work overseas and you are required to provide evidence of your entry on the Register as part of the process), contact us and we will provide evidence of your entry on the Register. Please note that we will only send these to your registered address, or to another registration authority. There is no charge for this service.
Please note, printed certificates do not guarantee that a doctor’s status on the Register has not changed nor do they provide proof of identity. We strongly recommend that employers or other contracting authorities check to our online Register for up to date information, or call 0161 923 6602 (+44 161 923 6602 from outside the UK).
8. Certificates of Good Standing (CGS)
The GMC can issue a CGS if you intend to work overseas in the near future. You should check the position with the relevant overseas authorities. The CGS shows that no fitness to practise proceedings under the Medical Act 1983 are at present in progress or contemplated. A CGS will not be issued if there is a current or intended investigation in relation to your fitness to practise or if there are any current or past sanctions on your registration.
We will only send the CGS to another appropriate body – eg healthcare regulator or employer. There is no charge for a CGS. We process requests for a CGS as quickly as possible, usually within one day, but at some times of the year we can become extremely busy and delays are possible. It is therefore wise to allow as much time as possible for the CGS to be delivered. If we have your email address or contact numbers we will contact you to let you know when we have processed your CGS.
CGS issued by the GMC are only valid for a period of three months from date of issue.
To obtain a CGS complete the online form (opens in a new window).
9. Insurance and Professional Indemnity
In the performance of all your professional duties, you should abide by the principles set out in Good Medical Practice (opens in a new window). Even so, you could become the subject of a complaint or an allegation of negligence during the course of your professional employment. The protection that comes from employment in the NHS is by no means sufficient to cover all situations in which you may find yourself.
There are professional organisations which undertake to protect, support and safeguard the character and interests of registered medical and dental practitioners in the United Kingdom, and elsewhere.
Members receive advice and assistance on legal, ethical and other problems arising from the practice of their profession, including problems that may arise with the GMC itself as the result of allegations of failure to abide by the principles set out in Good Medical Practice. Members may also receive indemnity for damages and costs arising from judicial decisions or settlements out of court and in medico-legal cases undertaken on their behalf, notably accusations of professional negligence.
Further information about the benefits of membership can be obtained direct from the organisations concerned.
Their addresses are:
Medical Defence Union Limited
230 Blackfriars Road
London SE1 8PJ
Tel: 020 7202 1500
Web: http://www.the-mdu.com
Medical Protection Society
33 Cavendish Square
London W1N 0PS
Tel: 020 7637 0541
Web: http://www.mps.org.uk
Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland
Mackintosh House
120 Blythswood Street
Glasgow G2 4EA
Tel: 0141 221 5858
Web: http://www.mddus.com