Revalidation - Relicensing and Recertification

Last updated: June 2009

What is Revalidation?

Revalidation is a set of procedures, operated by the GMC, to evaluate a doctor’s fitness to practice. A positive Revalidation outcome is a condition of GPs continuing to hold a Licence to Practice. In December 2008, the GMC started writing to all doctors on the medical register about the introduction of the new License to Practice, which will be introduced in Autumn 2009. All registered doctors will receive a leaflet which explains what the introduction of licensing means for them. Revalidation encompasses two components:

• Relicensure – As highlighted above, and in line with the Good Medical Practice, all licensed doctors will need to demonstrate to the GMC (normally every five years) that they are practising in accordance with the generic standards of practice set by the GMC.
• Recertification – This applies to doctors included in the GMC’s Specialist or General Practitioners registers. To recertify, doctors will demonstrate that they continue to adhere to the standards that are relevant to their specialist skills or particular area of practice.

Although relicensing and recertification are separate components of revalidation, the GMC intends that they will operate as a single set of processes. For both components, the evidence supporting a doctor’s revalidation will be largely generated from within the workplace and brought together through appraisal. There will be a single recommendation to the GMC on whether a doctor should be revalidated, and this will cover both relicensing and recertification.