What do you need to do to revalidate for the first time?

The GMC and the four UK health departments have agreed a statement setting out the minimum requirements that doctors must meet before they can revalidate for the first time. This will enable doctors to find out exactly what they need to do to revalidate.

Rather than wait for everyone to complete five years worth of appraisals, we will begin revalidating licensed doctors from the end of 2012. This first implementation phase is likely to last until the end of March 2018, by which time we should have received a recommendation about every doctor's revalidation. We expect the vast majority to have revalidated by the end of March 2016.  

During this period of implementation, there are minimum requirements doctors must meet before they are ready to revalidate.  

Responsible officers will make sure that these are met and will not put doctors forward for revalidation until they are ready, providing that they are doing everything they can to prepare.  

Responsible officers should support their doctors to prepare and thereby enable them to meet these minimum requirements. The GMC will work with responsible officers over the summer to confirm which doctors they are responsible for and to develop timetables for their revalidation.  

We believe doctors will find the statement setting out these minimum requirements useful as it provides the detail of what they need to do before they can revalidate for the first time.  

The statement says that:  

To revalidate, doctors must…

• be taking part in an annual appraisal process
• have completed at least one appraisal based on Good Medical Practice 
• have collected and reflected on all six types of supporting information.  

Doctors can also…

• bring team-based (as opposed to individualised) information to their appraisal, as long as they have reflected on what the information means for their individual practice
• use evidence of patient and colleague feedback obtained up to five years before a revalidation recommendation is made, as long as it's relevant to their current scope of practice
• use feedback that does not fully meet our criteria as long as it is objective and focuses on their practice and the quality of care they have given to their patients.  

Read the statement

Read the Revalidation readiness statement.