Who can become a suitable person?

Suitable persons must:

• be a responsible officer, or undertake a role with similar responsibilities to a responsible officer, for an organisation operating within the healthcare environment (for example, by employing, contracting or providing membership services to doctors), located in the UK, a Crown Dependency or Gibraltar
• currently hold GMC registration with a licence to practise
• have held GMC registration continuously for at least the last five years
• have either a connection to a designated body or an approved suitable person
• have access to information needed to make revalidation recommendations for their connected doctors. This includes assurance that:
• they are taking part in annual appraisals
• records of a doctor’s fitness to practise are kept, including appraisals and any other investigations or assessments
• concerns about their practice are communicated as they arise
• they are complying with any local conditions, or conditions imposed by, or undertakings agreed with, us
• formal arrangements (that are not time bound) are in place with other relevant organisations or persons, to access information to make recommendations about their whole scope of practice
• have experience, skills and knowledge to carry out their responsibilities, including:
  • performance management, appraisal, quality assurance of appraisal systems and appraisers, remediation, or rehabilitation
• have the available resources to fulfil their responsibilities
• have a clear and rational link to the doctor or group of doctors. E.g. - an employment relationship, sharing a niche specialty or sector, or governance arrangements
• have sufficient knowledge and oversight of the doctor's working environment to:
  • make an accurate assessment of their fitness to practise
  • make sure they participate in revalidation
• not be a suitable person for a doctor where they already have a prescribed connection to a designated body under the responsible officer regulations (check the doctor's connection status and full scope of practice before connecting to them)
• consider whether there is a conflict of interest, bias, or any perception of bias, when connecting to a doctor.

You can find more information about the information and systems suitable persons need to access in:

• Effective clinical governance to support revalidation
• our guidance outlining our processes for approving an individual as a suitable person.

Our criteria may be updated from time to time in line with our guidance and instructions.