FAQs - general questions about revalidation
Questions on this page
- 1. What is revalidation?
- 2. What is the purpose of revalidation?
- 3. How will revalidation work?
- 4. What has happened to recertification?
- 5. What extra resources will revalidation require?
- 6. Who must revalidate?
- 7. How often must I revalidate?
- 8. Is revalidation in response to the case of Harold Shipman?
- 9. How will patients and the public be involved in revalidation?
- 10. What should I be doing now to prepare for revalidation?
- 11. What does an organisation have to do?
- 12. What legislation is in place to support revalidation?
- 13. What will happen if I do not engage in appraisal and revalidation?
- 14. If serious concerns are raised about a doctor’s practise what will be the consequences for their revalidation?
- 15. Will there be a required minimum number of clinical sessions that doctors must undertake in order to revalidate?
1. What is revalidation?
Revalidation is the process by which doctors will have to demonstrate to the GMC, normally every five years, that they are up to date and fit to practise.
2. What is the purpose of revalidation?
The purpose of revalidation is to assure patients and the public, employers and other healthcare professionals that licensed doctors are up-to-date and fit to practise.
Revalidation is a new way of regulating the medical profession that will provide a focus for doctors’ efforts to maintain and improve their practice; facilitate the organisations in which doctors’ work to support them in keeping their practice up to date; and encourage patients and the public to provide feedback about the medical care they receive from doctors. In these ways, revalidation will contribute to the ongoing improvement in the quality of medical care delivered to patients throughout the UK.
3. How will revalidation work?
Revalidation will be based on a local evaluation of doctors’ performance through appraisal. Doctors will be expected to participate in annual appraisal in the workplace and will need to maintain a folder or portfolio of supporting information to bring to their appraisals as a basis for discussion. There will be some types of supporting information that all doctors will be expected to provide at appraisal over a revalidation cycle. However, doctors can take any other additional information to demonstrate their practice at appraisal.
For more information, please see our guidance on supporting information for appraisal and revalidation.
Information from the appraisal will be provided to a Responsible Officer who will make a recommendation to the GMC, normally every five years, on whether to revalidate a doctor. In order to revalidate a doctor, the GMC will require assurance that a doctor is fit to practise.
4. What has happened to recertification?
When the Government published its proposals for revalidation in 2007, it divided revalidation into two elements - relicensing and recertification. We have now moved to a single system of revalidation, which incorporates both of these elements into a simpler, more effective and more efficient process than the two separate strands originally proposed.
5. What extra resources will revalidation require?
Revalidation has been designed to be based on elements that most doctors are already familiar with as part of their work, such as annual appraisal and audit.
The Government is carrying out an assessment in light of piloting work that is being done and this will help to determine what, if any, additional resources are needed to support effective local systems. By building on local mechanisms that are already in place, any additional burdens should be minimised. Effective local systems for clinical governance should already provide appraisal and some of the supporting information that is required for revalidation.
6. Who must revalidate?
All doctors holding a licence to practise will need to participate in revalidation.
7. How often must I revalidate?
For most doctors, revalidation will be a five year cycle. Every five years the GMC will require confirmation from a doctor’s Responsible Officer that they are up to date and fit to practise and that there are no significant unresolved concerns about their practice.
The GMC may vary the frequency of this cycle where the circumstances of the individual doctor require it. One example is where a doctor has taken a career-break and their revalidation may be postponed for a period of time to allow them time to gather sufficient supporting information for the appraisal and revalidation.
8. Is revalidation in response to the case of Harold Shipman?
Revalidation is not about responding to the case of Harold Shipman. Instead, it is one of several mechanisms intended to contribute to improvements in the quality of care by giving focus to doctors’ efforts to keep up to date and improve their practise.
9. How will patients and the public be involved in revalidation?
One of the aims of revalidation is to assure patients and the public that licensed doctors are up to date and fit to practise. Patients will need to have confidence in the way that revalidation will work.
Our revalidation consultation, explored a number of ways in which patients and the public might be involved in revalidation. Following the consultation, we have agreed that the information that doctors will discuss at appraisal will include feedback from patients, through patient questionnaires, complaints and compliments. It may also be appropriate for patient feedback received through other mechanisms, for instance through engagement with Patient Advice and Liaison Services (www.pals.nhs.uk), to be included in appraisal discussions where it is available.
10. What should I be doing now to prepare for revalidation?
Revalidation is not expected to roll out until 2012. In the meantime, you need to ensure that you are participating in annual appraisal. If you cannot access appraisal through your workplace, you should contact your Responsible Officer or relevant health board.
For more information about what doctors will be expected to bring to their appraisal, please see our guidance on supporting information for appraisal and revalidation.
You should ensure that you know who your Responsible Officer is. Guidance and further information about the Responsible Officer role is available on the Department of Health (England) website and the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS) website.
Responsible Officers have been in place since 1 January 2011. They will have a legal duty to ensure the local systems and processes which underpin revalidation are in place, including clinical governance systems and a system of annual appraisals. Doctors who have queries about finding their Responsible Officer should contact the DHSSPS or the Department of Health (England) for more information. Doctors may also wish to contact the organisations that employ or contract their services to confirm arrangements for linking with a Responsible Officer based in those organisations.
In order to stay up to date with developments in revalidation and guidance that we are publishing you can sign up to our Revalidation Update, a regular e-bulletin sent on behalf of the UK Revalidation Programme Board by the General Medical Council. In order to do this, please send an email requesting addition to our mailing list to revalidation@gmc-uk.org.
For more information about appraisals and revalidation in your country, you can visit:
11. What does an organisation have to do?
If you are identified as a designated organisation in the Responsible Officer legislation, which is available on the Department of Health (England) website and the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (Northern Ireland) website you are required to appoint or nominate a Responsible Officer. Responsible Officers have a legal duty to ensure the local governance systems and processes which underpin revalidation are in place, including annual appraisal. Designated organisations must provide their Responsible Officers with the resources to enable them to carry out their role.
A helpful checklist for employers preparing for revalidation is available on the NHS Employers website.
The GMC is currently working on defining criteria to evaluate the readiness of organisations for starting revalidation. These will be published on our website in due course. Please check back for further updates.
12. What legislation is in place to support revalidation?
The Medical Act 1983 is the primary UK legislation that provides the legal basis for everything that the GMC does. This legislation, and accompanying regulations, will set out the provisions for revalidation. These provisions will have to be switched on (‘commenced’) before revalidation can be implemented.
The Responsible Officer legislation was passed on 1 January 2011 for England, Scotland and Wales, having been in place since 1 October 2010 in Northern Ireland. This legislation places a responsibility on every organisation designated in the legislation to appoint a Responsible Officer who will then bear responsibility for overseeing the provision of adequate systems and processes for revalidation, including annual appraisals and clinical governance. The designated organisations, in return, have a responsibility to prove the Responsible Officers with the resources they require to carry out their role.
The legislation will provide the framework of powers and duties for revalidation but this will be coupled with detailed guidance for doctors, employers, Responsible Officers and other involved parties.
13. What will happen if I do not engage in appraisal and revalidation?
We expect that the majority of doctors will have no problem meeting the requirements for revalidation if they engage with the appraisal and local clinical governance processes.
If you choose not to engage, by not providing evidence to support your revalidation or failing to participate in an annual appraisal process, you cannot be revalidated and you risk having your licence to practise withdrawn.
14. If serious concerns are raised about a doctor’s practise what will be the consequences for their revalidation?
If concerns are identified about a doctor’s practice that are sufficiently serious to raise questions about whether they should have a licence to practise and the Responsible Officer is therefore unable to recommend them for revalidation, the doctor will be referred to the GMC’s Fitness to Practice processes.
Where concerns about a doctor’s practise exist these should be identified early and, where possible, addressed through relevant local clinical governance processes including appraisal. The identification of, and action on, concerns should not wait until they are due to be revalidated but be dealt with through usual day to day systems or at appraisal. The Responsible Officer might also want to immediately engage with the National Clinical Assessment Service (www.ncas.npsa.nhs.uk) or refer the doctor to the GMC if the concerns raised are sufficiently serious.
Where a doctor is referred to the GMC’s Fitness to Practise department for investigation their revalidation will be deferred until the outcome of that investigation is known.
15. Will there be a required minimum number of clinical sessions that doctors must undertake in order to revalidate?
The GMC will not require doctors to undertake a set minimum number of hours or clinical sessions for revalidation as it is based on what a doctor’s practice consists of on a day-to-day basis and different fields of practise have different requirements.
Before making a recommendation, a Responsible Officer will need to be satisfied that a doctor is up to date and fit to practise, based on the information and discussions at appraisal.