Revalidation is the process by which doctors, who hold a licence to practise medicine in the UK, will have to demonstrate to the General Medical Council (GMC) that they are up to date, fit to practise, and are complying with the relevant professional standards.
The aim of Medical Revalidation is to give patients confidence that their doctors are performing well and are up to date with regard to the latest developments in the area in which they practise.
Medical Revalidation was introduced throughout the UK in December 2012. Information from annual appraisals, patient and colleague feedback, and links to local clinical governance is included in a doctor's five year revalidation cycle. Responsible officers confirm to the GMC that a doctor has provided the necessary evidence to enable him or her to be revalidated. The GMC will make the final decision on revalidation of any doctor. In Scotland, medical directors have been appointed as Responsible Officers and they have a key role in developing more effective liaison between organisations and the GMC as the regulatory body for all doctors. A list of Responsible Officers is available from the GMC.
Throughout the preparation and implementation of medical revalidation Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) has led, on behalf of the Scottish Government, in providing external quality assurance (EQA) of medical revalidation in Scotland, incorporating both NHS Boards and the independent healthcare sector. This will provide a data set suitable for analysis against the first five year revalidation cycle.
The GMC has commissioned the first UK wide evaluation of the system for revalidating doctors, with Scotland being represented by NHS Education for Scotland (NES) and Healthcare Improvement Scotland. The findings of the evaluation will be reported in summer 2017.