1 Introduction
2 Getting started with GMC Connect
2.1 Requesting access to GMC Connect
2.2 Logging in after you've got your password email from us
3 The Home page
4 Document folders
4.1 About Document Folders
5 Guidance & forms
6 Responsible officer details
6.1 Amending your email address
6.2 Amending your email notification preference
6.3 Amending other details
7 Your list of doctors
7.1 Find a doctor on your list
7.2 Add a doctor to your list
7.3 Remove a doctor from your list (decline responsibility)
7.4 Submit a positive revalidation recommendation for one or more doctors on your list
7.5 Request a deferral of revalidation for a doctor on your list
7.6 Notify us that one of your doctors has not engaged in the revalidation process
8 Your submitted recommendations
9 Adding additional users/delegates
10 Removing access to the system
Welcome to the GMC Connect user guide for responsible officers, suitable persons and delegates.
GMC Connect is our system for managing the secure transfer of data, both into and out of the GMC.
There are many occasions where it’s necessary for us (the GMC) to share digital information with the various types of organisations and individuals that we work with. Designated bodies, responsible officers (ROs) and suitable persons are one group we need to do this with and GMC Connect allows us to share our information securely.
This guide takes you through the main steps of using GMC Connect to manage your list of doctors and make revalidation recommendations.
To access GMC Connect, you need to complete the online request.
For security you need to, among other things:
When you've completed the form click the 'Submit' button (it can take a few seconds for all the data to be sent, so only click the button once).
When you've submitted your details, your request for an account will be sent to the GMC Connect administrators for approval. Once your user account has been approved we’ll send you an email with a link to the GMC Connect login page (save this page as an internet favourite) and a password to login.
If you are responsible for submitting revalidation recommendations for more than one designated body, you will need to request an individual GMC Connect account for each designated body you look after. Your username for each account must be different, but your password can be the same.
We support a wide variety of internet browsing software. If you have any problems logging in to GMC Connect, or using GMC Connect when you've logged in, please try a different internet browser or contact us for further guidance.
We need to make sure that access to information presented through GMC Connect is carefully controlled so it may take up to five days for us to authenticate new registration requests.
At the login page:
The password we sent you can only be used once. You’ll need to change the password the first time you log in.
When you log in to GMC Connect, you’ll see the Home page.
On the left of the screen are menu items which you’ll use to go to different sections of the site.
In the centre are links to news items that have been posted by GMC Connect administrators.
Some hints and tips
Document Folders are one of the document sharing areas of GMC Connect. They won't be used during the early phases of revalidation.
We will update this guide if and when this functionality is needed for revalidation.
The Guidance & Forms area is where information and document templates useful to GMC Connect users are published.
To access the Guidance & Forms area, click on the Guidance & Forms menu item.
On the initial Guidance & Forms page is a list of folders. Clicking on a folder will take you to a list of documents within that folder.
Click on the View Documents link to open the folder
You are now presented with the document list for the folder you clicked into.
You can see all the files held in the folder, along with their description and the date that they were uploaded.
To download a file, click on the document name.
As the Guidance & Forms section is intended for the distribution of GMC literature and document templates, GMC Connect users are not able to upload documents into these folders.
If you click on the ‘Responsible Officer Details’ menu option you’ll see a screen that shows you the details we have for your designated body.
You can only amend your designated body email address (this is the email address your doctors will use to contact you about local revalidation matters) and your email notifications preference in GMC Connect.
We recommend that you use a group or team email address rather than your own. This means you'll still be able to deal with email queries during periods of absence.
You’ll need to use our REV2 form to request any other changes. When you've completed the form click the ‘Submit Form’ button in the top right-hand corner and follow the instructions on screen. This will email it back to us.
Click on the ‘Amend’ button.
Type your email address into the box (1) and click the ‘Save’ button (2).
Your new email address will now show on the Responsible officer details screen.
You will automatically receive email notifications of changes to your list of doctors, for example when a doctor adds your organisation as their designated body, unless you change your notification preference.
To turn off email notifications:
Click on the ‘Amend’ button.
Click on the drop down box next to ‘Receive email notifications’ (1) and choose ‘No’ (2)
Click ‘Save’ (3)
You won’t receive any more email notifications.
You’ll need to use our REV2 form to request any other changes. When you've completed the form click the ‘Submit Form’ button in the top right-hand corner and follow the instructions on screen. This will email it back to us.
If you click on the ‘Your Doctors’ menu option you’ll see a screen that shows you the list of doctors that are connected to your organisation for revalidation. These are the doctors you are responsible for submitting revalidation recommendations for.
When you open this screen you'll only see doctors who have recommendations due in the next 90 days. So you may not see any doctors listed.
You can use the filter buttons to expand your list to see:
From this screen you can:
*This functionality will not be available until the revalidation legislation comes into force.
You can find any doctor on your list as follows:
Click on the ‘All’ button to see your full list of doctors.
On your keyboard press the ‘Ctrl’ and ‘F’ keys together. You’ll get a ‘Find’ box on screen (depending on the software your organisation uses, you may see a slightly different box with different options. If you do and you need help, please contact your IT department).
Type in the GMC reference number (or surname or first name) of the doctor you want to find (1) and click ‘Find Next’ (2).
If you search by first name or surname you’ll need to click the ‘Find Next’ button until you see the doctor you want to find as there may be more than one with the same first name or surname.
The GMC reference number (or surname or first name) of the doctor you want will be highlighted.
If you know there’s a doctor who has a connection with your organisation and they’re not on your list, or you have agreed to make a recommendation for a doctor connected to another designated body because of a conflict of interest*, you can add them.
Click on the ‘click here’ link.
Type in the GMC reference number of the doctor you want to add (1), and click the ‘Search’ button (2).
Use the drop down list to choose the reason you want to add the doctor (1).
Click the ‘Submit’ button (2).
You’ll get a confirmation that you’ve added the doctor to your list.
Click the ‘Back’ button to take you back to your list of doctors.
*If you want to add a doctor because of a conflict of interest, you need to do this after the designated body they have a connection to has declined them. When you have chosen ‘Conflict of interest’ as the reason for adding the doctor, they will be shown in your list, but the doctor will still see their original designated body in the My Revalidation section of GMC Online.
If you know there’s a doctor on your list who doesn’t have a connection with your organisation, or there is a conflict of interest**, you can remove them by declining responsibility.
Find the doctor by following the instructions in 7.1 above.
The GMC reference number of the doctor you want to remove will be highlighted.
Click the ‘Decline’ link on the right.
Choose a reason for removing the doctor from the drop down list (1). Then click the ‘Decline’ button (2).
You’ll get a confirmation that the doctor has been removed from your list. Click the ‘Back’ button to return to your list of doctors.
**If you want to decline responsibility for a doctor because of a conflict of interest, you need to do this before the designated body that will make recommendation on that doctor add them to their list. When you have chosen ‘Conflict of interest’ as the reason for declining the doctor, they will be removed from your list, but the doctor will still see you as their designated body in the My Revalidation section of GMC Online.
By default, your list of doctors will only show doctors with recommendations due in the next 90 days.
Find the doctor (or doctors) you want to recommend revalidation for by following the instructions in 7.1 above.
Select one or more doctors to make a positive recommendation for by ticking the ‘Select’ box to the left of each doctor (1).
Then click the ‘Recommend revalidation’ button (2).
You’ll see the statement you are agreeing to when making a positive recommendation, and the list of doctors you are making it for.
If you’ve made a mistake and there’s a doctor listed that you don’t want to make a recommendation for, click the ‘Remove’ link to take them off your submission list.
When you’re happy the list is correct click the ‘Submit’ button.
You’ll see a confirmation of the doctors you’ve submitted positive recommendations for.
Click the ‘Back’ button to return to your list of doctors.
You can make a request to defer your revalidation recommendation for a doctor on your list. You can only make a deferral request for one doctor at a time.
Find the doctor by following the instructions in 7.1 above.
The GMC reference number of the doctor you want to defer revalidation for will be highlighted.
Click the ‘Defer’ link.
You’ll see the statement you are agreeing to when requesting a deferral.
Type in the date you want to defer your recommendation until (or use the calendar button) (1).
Choose the reason you want to defer from the drop-down list (2).
Click the ‘Submit’ button (3).
You’ll get a confirmation screen telling you that your request has been submitted to us.
Click the ‘Back’ button to return to your list of doctors.
If you’ve exhausted all your local processes, and one of your doctors refuses to engage in the revalidation process, you can notify us of their non-engagement.
Find the doctor by following the instructions in 7.1 above.
The GMC reference number of the doctor you want will be highlighted.
Click the ‘Non-engagement’ link.
You’ll see the statement you are agreeing to when notifying us that the doctor has not engaged in the revalidation process.
Click the ‘Submit’ button.
You’ll get a confirmation screen telling you that your notification has been submitted to us.
Click the ‘Back’ button to return to your list of doctors.
If you click on the ‘Submitted Recommendations’ menu option you’ll see a screen that shows you a list of the doctors you’ve submitted revalidation recommendations for and the status of each submission.
Doctors on your list of submitted recommendations will not appear on the main list on the 'Your doctors' page until the status changes to 'Approved'.
If you click on the ‘Details’ link you’ll see more information about the recommendation.
You can find out what the recommendation statuses mean by clicking on the ‘What does this status mean?’ link (1).
Click on the ‘Back’ button (2) to return to your list of submitted recommendations.
You may allow more than one person in your designated body to have access to your GMC Connect account. Each person requires a unique login.
To add a new user to your organisation you’ll need to:
• Provide the GMC Connect administrator with a list of names and email addresses for the additional users using form REV3. When you've completed the form click the 'Submit Form' button in the top right-hand corner and follow the instructions on screen. This will email it back to us.
• They will then be emailed a signup link
• The GMC Connect administrator will verify the requests submitted against the list you provide.
• Access will be granted where appropriate.
Additional users will be able to perform exactly the same transactions as the responsible officer. Each transaction has an audit trail of who completed it. Any transactions undertaken by additional users will be deemed to have been completed by the responsible officer.
If a member of staff who has access to GMC Connect leaves your organisation you must email us immediately with the user's details so that we can remove their GMC Connect access.
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