Doctors urged to take part in licensing regulations consultation

Today marks the launch of a three-month consultation on our draft Licence to Practise Regulations and supporting guidance for doctors.

The General Medical Council (GMC) is today launching a three-month consultation on its draft Licence to Practise Regulations and supporting guidance for doctors.

The consultation covers the  GMC’s proposed arrangements for granting, withdrawing, refusing and restoring licences to practise.

Licences to practise are being introduced in the autumn of this year. In future, all doctors wishing to practise medicine in the UK will need a licence to practise.

Chair of the Council, Sir Graeme Catto, said: “Licensing represents a significant change in medical regulation, and the publication of the draft regulations and guidance shows that we are making real progress in our work to deliver the licence to practise later this year. It is the first tangible step towards the introduction of revalidation.

“This consultation will give doctors, employers and others who will be affected by these regulations and guidance the opportunity to say whether they are clear, fair, straightforward and in the public interest.”

The consultation runs until 21 April 2009. You can complete your response to the consultation on the GMC’s public consultation site by visiting https://gmc.e-consultation.net/econsult/default.aspx