GP Revalidation

Revalidation was introduced in December 2012 and is intended to be supportive and focused on raising standards. It is not a mechanism for dealing with the small proportion of doctors who cause concern but it will help identify doctors who need extra support to develop their portfolios in line with the standards set by the GMC and the Royal College of General Practitioners.

Revalidation is designed to improve the quality of patient care and has three elements:

1. To confirm that licensed doctors practise in accordance with the GMC’s generic standards (relicensure)
2. For doctors on the Specialist Register and GP Register, to confirm that they meet the standards appropriate for their specialty (Recertification)
3. To identify for further investigation, and remediation, poor practice where local systems are not robust enough to do this or do not exist

The GMC have given the following step by step guide to the revalidation process:

• Licensed doctors will be required to link to a Responsible Officer (RO).
• Licensed doctors will need to maintain a portfolio of Supporting Information drawn from their practice which demonstrates how they are continuing to meet the principles and values set out in Good Medical Practice Framework for appraisal and revalidation.
• Licensed doctors will be expected to participate in a process of annual appraisal based on their portfolio of supporting information.
• The responsible Officer will make a Recommendation to the GMC about a doctor’s fitness to practise, normally every five years. The recommendation will be based on the outcome of a licensed doctor’s annual appraisals over the course of five years, combined with information drawn from the clinical governance system of the organisation in which the licensed doctor works.
• The GMC’s decision to revalidate a licensed doctor will be informed by the Responsible Officers recommendation.
• The summary of your appraisal history and supporting information (the form 6 signed at appraisal) is sent to the responsible officer (RO) before revalidation. It should be noted that the responsible officer requires that the appraisee provides supporting information covering all areas of the GMP Framework in the appraisal before revalidation (except PCF if already completed within five years – see guidance above)
• This summary will be reviewed along with any other information available at HSCB (e.g. a review of on-going local investigations)
• A decision will then be made regarding your revalidation recommendation.
• There is no separate meeting with the RO to trigger this process.
• When the GMC receive a recommendation, this is considered, along with any other relevant information, and a decision made about revalidation
• The GMC will write to the doctor, to let them know this decision

For all queries regarding both Revalidation and Patient and Colleague Feedback please contact:

Revalidation and Governance Support Officer, HSCB

Tel: 028 9536 2056

Email: gprevalidation@hscni.net 

Letter from Chief Medical Officer relating to appraisal and revalidation – May 2014 (Download)