Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Who are deaneries responsible for?
Deaneries are responsible for doctors in training in GMC approved deanery training programmes and posts. This will include Fixed Term Specialty Training Appointments (FTSTAs) and Locum Appointments for Training (LATs).
Deaneries are not responsible for Locum Appointments for Service (LAS), trust grade jobs, staff grade posts and other non-training grade posts.
What happens if I am absent for a period of time or have a break from my training programme; what effect will this have on my revalidation?
If you are absent or take a break from the training programme which is approved by the deanery, then your submission date and prescribed connection will remain the same, and you do not need to do anything else. This might include taking up an out of programme training or research post, or going on maternity or long term sick leave.
If your revalidation submission date happens to fall while you are out of training, your Responsible Officer will have the option to defer the submission of your revalidation recommendation. Deferral of the revalidation recommendation is a routine, administrative decision which does not have any impact on your licence to practise.
What if I change my designated body between now and revalidation commencing?
You can update the designated body we hold for you using GMC Online.
GMC Online is a secure area of our website that helps doctors manage their registration. This is where your revalidation details, including the name of your designated body will be stored from now on. If you don't have a GMC Online account you can set up your account by visiting the help setting up a GMC Online account page.
We used your response to this year’s national training survey to confirm your designated body for you. If you've changed deanery since you completed this year's survey, your responsible officer will amend their records and update the designated body information held by us. We're working with responsible officers for doctors in training to ensure that the information we hold about their trainees is up to date before revalidation begins in early December 2012.
How will I know if I have been recommended or not for revalidation?
Your deanery will consider the revalidation recommendation they wish to make about you to the GMC as a part of your Annual Review of Competence Progression (ARCP). Deaneries have amended the ARCP process to take account of the introduction of revalidation. If there are ever any concerns about your fitness to practise, your deanery will discuss these with you.
You will receive a formal notification of your revalidation decision from the GMC.
How is my ‘period of grace’ at the end of training accounted for?
Doctors in training are eligible for an extension to their training agreement with the deanery following completion of training, which provides time for them to find employment. This is referred to as the ‘period of grace’.
During your ‘period of grace’ your deanery will remain your designated body. Your responsible officer will therefore remain the same, until you either come to the end of your ‘period of grace’, or until you relinquish your national training number.
If I get an outcome other than a 1 in my ARCP does that mean I will not receive a positive revalidation recommendation or decision?
Not at all. The decision about your revalidation is separate to the decision made about your progression through training: revalidation is about your fitness to practise rather than your training progression. For example, receiving an outcome 3 or 4 at your ARCP would have no effect on your revalidation unless there is a concern about your conduct, performance or health that could raise a question about your fitness to practise.
What happens if my revalidation submission date falls before my fifth ARCP has taken place?
Revalidation is not a point in time assessment, and is based on your ongoing demonstration of your fitness to practise. Therefore your ARCP and revalidation submission dates do not have to align, and as with other doctors and their appraisals, doctors in training can revalidate on the basis of fewer than five ARCPs.
What role does my employer have in my revalidation?
Your responsible officer may use information from the clinical and corporate governance systems of your employer for each post to satisfy themselves that there are no outstanding concerns in relation to your fitness to practise. This could include information on significant events, and complaints and compliments.
All doctors are required to provide information on significant events, and complaints and compliments for revalidation, as well as to demonstrate what reflection on their practice this prompted, and any areas for development informed by this event.