The Medical Register
Doctors must be registered with a licence to practise with the General Medical Council (GMC) to practise medicine in the UK.
Why we have the Register
Patients trust doctors with their lives and wellbeing. They need to have confidence that doctors are competent in their field and abide by high ethical standards.
The GMC's duty is to protect this public interest. By keeping up-to-date registers of qualified doctors, we aim to ensure that all registered doctors maintain the standards the public and the medical profession expect.
These standards are set out in the GMC's publication Good Medical Practice (opens in a new window).
Is a doctor on the Register and do they have a licence to practise?
You can check whether a doctor is on the Register and if they are licensed to practise online. Our online Register is called the List of Registered Medical Practitioners (opens in a new window).
A leaflet is available to help patients understand why doctors have to be registered with the General Medical Council. This explains why only those doctors who are registered with the GMC with a licence to practise may treat patients by law. Please visit our patient information page.
Accessing the GP Register
The GP Register is a register of general practitioners eligible to work in the UK health service. The List of Registered Medical Practitioners (opens in a new window) shows if a doctor is on the GP Register..
Read more about the
GP Register (opens in a new window).
Information for employers
If you employ doctors you must ensure a doctor holds the appropriate type of registration for the work you have employed them to do. Please read our online help Employing a doctor (opens in a new window).
An explanation of the different types of registration and routes into registration is provided in our online help General information about registration and licensing (opens in a new window).
Licensing and revalidation
We introduced licensing on 16 November 2009 and plan to introduce a new system of revalidation in the future. This will mean that all doctors will regularly have to prove to us that they are up to date and fit to practise medicine.