Following the announcement from the Secretary of State, Andrew Lansley, regarding revalidation, Professor Peter Rubin, Chair of the General Medical Council, said:
“This is a positive move by the Secretary of State – the new government has shown real commitment to the introduction of regular checks for doctors throughout the United Kingdom. Like the Secretary of State, we believe patients expect this to happen and that, if implemented effectively, it will support all doctors in improving their practice. Revalidation, as the proposed scheme is called, will be vital in helping doctors deliver high quality care.
“Today the Secretary of State announced that the government will press ahead immediately with the introduction of Responsible Officers who will oversee the system of revalidation locally. He also made it clear that all this must be based on strong local arrangements for organising and monitoring clinical care both in hospitals and GP surgeries. The decision to extend piloting of revalidation in England will ensure that these systems are sufficiently robust without being burdensome or bureaucratic for doctors or employers. There is a major challenge here – making sure that hospitals, clinics and surgeries all have proper arrangements for monitoring and learning from the clinical care they provide. Nothing less should be expected from a modern healthcare system committed to safety and excellence.
"Our consultation on revalidation concludes this week and we have been heartened by the response from all quarters. We remain committed to amending the proposals in the light of those comments to ensure that revalidation contributes to the quality of care."
Notes to Editors:
For further information please contact the Media Relations Office on 020 7189 5454, out of hours 020 7189 5444, email press@gmc-uk.org, website www.gmc-uk.org.
The General Medical Council registers and licenses doctors to practise medicine in the UK. Our purpose is summed up in the phrase: Regulating doctors, Ensuring Good Medical Practice.
The law gives us four main functions:
- keeping up-to-date registers of qualified doctors
- fostering good medical practice
- promoting high standards of medical education and training
- dealing firmly and fairly with doctors whose fitness to practise is in doubt
Merger of PMETB with GMC
The functions of the Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board (PMETB) transferred to the GMC on 1 April 2010, creating a simpler and clearer framework for the regulation of medical education and training. All stages of medical education and training now fall under the GMC’s remit. For more information please visit www.gmc-uk.org.
Office of the Health Professions Adjudicator (OHPA)
From April 2011, the adjudication of fitness to practise cases involving doctors will transfer from the GMC to a new body called the Office of the Health Professions Adjudicator (OHPA). OHPA is being established under the Health and Social Care Act 2008. It is being created to ensure clear separation between the investigation of fitness to practise cases and the process of determining whether a professional’s fitness to practise is impaired.
To begin with, the new body will be responsible for making decisions on fitness to practise cases brought forward by the GMC and, in time, the General Optical Council. Over time, other regulators of healthcare professionals may transfer their adjudication functions to OHPA. For more information about OHPA, please visit www.ohpa.org.uk
The GMC will remain the regulator for doctors, continuing to set the standards for professional practice and receiving and investigating allegations about their fitness to practise.
