Revalidation FAQs

Revalidation is the process whereby doctors need to demonstrate to the GMC, normally every five years, that they are up-to-date and fit to practice.

Revalidation:

provides a focus for doctors’ efforts to maintain and improve their practice;
helps employing organisations to support their doctors in keeping their practice up to date;
encourages patients and the public to provide feedback about the medical care they receive from doctors.

The purpose of revalidation is to assure patients and the public that doctors holding a licence to practise are up-to-date and fit to practice.

All doctors holding a licence to practise need to revalidate.

Yes – please click here for further information about your revalidation process.

A designated body is an organisation which has been named in the responsible officer regulations or meets the appropriate criteria as described in those regulations. FPM has been named as a designated body and is therefore required to appoint a responsible officer. Please note that some pharmaceutical companies have designated body status.

The GMC tool will help you to correctly identify your legal prescribed connection for revalidation.

You will then need to select the name of your designated body via your GMC online account. This should be a straightforward process for most doctors, but the GMC will provide access to advice in cases where it is not.

If you are a trainee in PMST please click here for information about your prescribed connection, designated body and responsible officer.

• Participate in annual appraisals that involve the evaluation of your whole medical practice.
• Meet GMC requirements:
  • The Good Medical Practice Framework for Appraisal and Revalidation outlines the approach to revalidation
  • Guidance on Supporting Information for Appraisal and Revalidation sets out the core supporting information you will need to bring to your appraisal and the frequency this should be provided over a five-year revalidation cycle.

Information from the appraisal will be provided to your responsible officer who will make a recommendation to the GMC, normally every five years, on whether you should be revalidated.

You will need to bring supporting information to your appraisal. This falls under four broad headings:

1. General information
2. Keeping up to date
3. Review of your practice
4. Feedback on your practice

There are six types of supporting information that you will be expected to provide and discuss at your appraisal at least once in each five-year cycle:

1. Continuing professional development (CPD)
2. Quality improvement activity (QIA)
3. Significant events
4. Feedback from colleagues
5. Feedback from patients (where applicable)
6. Review of complaints and compliments

The FPM DB will allocate an appraiser who has been trained to GMC and NHS standards.

If you are a member of FPM your prescribed connection is likely to be with us.

If I do not wish to become a member of FPM, is there an alternative designated body I could have a prescribed connection with?

You should contact the GMC for advice. There is a GMC helpline which can be contacted on: 0161 923 6277 or email them at revalidation@gmc-uk.org

If you hold a Licence to Practise you must engage in the revalidation process.

Please see the GMC guidance.

The GMC recommends that doctors working entirely outside the UK, either permanently or long-term, consider relinquishing their Licence to Practise. The LtP is a requirement for practising medicine in the UK only and is not necessary for doctors working overseas. The process for reinstating the LtP is essentially administrative and straightforward. Doctors working abroad who wish to retain their LtP should be aware that they will be required to meet the same standards as those based in the UK and will also be required to undergo annual appraisal on a face-to-face basis.

The Medical Act 1983 is the primary UK legislation that provides the legal basis for everything that the GMC does. This legislation and accompanying regulations set out the provisions for revalidation. The Responsible Officer legislation was passed on 1 January 2011 for England, Scotland and Wales and 1 October 2010 in Northern Ireland.

The legislation places a responsibility on every organisation designated in the legislation to appoint a responsible officer who will then responsibility for overseeing the provision of adquate systems and processes for revalidation, including annual appraisal and local governance. The designated organisations, in return, have a responsibility to provide the responsible officers with the resources they require. The legislation provides the framework of powers and duties for revalidation and is coupled with detailed guidance for doctors, employers, responsible officers and other involved parties.

If you choose not to engage by failing to participate in the annual appraisal process or by not providing evidence to support revalidation, you cannot be revalidated and you risk having your LtP withdrawn.

Please see here.

If you have any complaint or concern about a pharmaceutical physician for whom we are the designated body, or would like to discuss any related matter, please contact the FPM responsible officer at revalidation@fpm.org.uk