Revalidation - Responsible Officer
Organisations which employ or contract with doctors will need to appoint a Responsible Officer. Every licensed doctor will be linked with a named Responsible Officer. One of the Responsible Officer's key roles will be to provide a positive recommendation to the GMC that a doctor is practising to the appropriate standards and should be considered for revalidation.
The post of Responsible Officer is a new statutory role. A consultation covering England, Scotland and Wales was carried out by the Department of Health (England) in 2009. The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety has also recently consulted on how Responsible Officers will undertake their role in Northern Ireland. You can find out more information on the role of the Responsible Officers on the following websites:
The Responsible Officer will be a senior, licensed doctor in a healthcare organisation, such as the Medical Director. For GPs, the Responsible Officer is likely to be from the healthcare organisation where they are included on the performers' list.
The Responsible Officer will have statutory responsibility for evaluating the fitness to practise of doctors associated with that organisation. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland they will also be responsible for ensuring that the system of clinical governance (including appraisal) in their healthcare organisation is in place and capable of supporting doctors in meeting the requirements of revalidation. They will not have this additional role in Scotland as this area of responsibility is already covered by existing legislation and organisational structures.
The Government is expected to publish legislation and more detailed guidance about the role of the Responsible Officer later in the year.
More information is available in our frequently asked questions about the Resonsible Officer.
Have your say
From 1 March - 4 June 2010 we are consulting on our proposals for the way in which revalidation will be introduced.
Please visit our revalidation consultation pages, or email thewayahead@gmc-uk.org for further information.