FAQ: Career Breaks, GpwSI, Trainees, Locums
I am planning on having a career
break. Do I need to be revalidated?
There’ll be no problem with
revalidation if a GP is away from work for two years or less.
However, the minimum criteria for considering a standard portfolio
for revalidation will need to be met. Our proposed guidance
requires GPs to complete three annual appraisals, three years’ of
learning credits (50 per year), and at least 200 half days of
clinical practice in the UK (100 of which should be in the two
years prior to revalidation).
We propose that if the career break is more than two
years, and the GP has not been able to complete the minimum
commitment, as set out in the
RCGP Guide to the Revalidation of General
Practitioners, a GP may be expected to do a re-entry
course. The requirements for a GP to re-enter general practice
after an extended absence (of two years or more) are not yet
clearly defined and work is being done to address this. This is
something that will need to be agreed by the GMC and it may be the
employer or the deanery who will decide whether a GP will need to
undergo a re-entry process.
I am a GP with a Special Interest
(GPwSI). How will I be revalidated?
Many GPs have areas of special interest in which they
deliver care. If the care is delivered to the practice’s own
patients and is a common activity (e.g. practice lead for diabetes)
no extra supporting information is required. If the special
interest is delivered within an NHS contract (i.e. the GP is
contracted by their PCO as a GP with Special Interests (GPwSI)),
that GP will need to describe their role and provide a certificate
of accreditation. If, however, the special interest is not within
an NHS contract, supporting information of appropriate skills
before starting, keeping up-to-date, and the quality of care
provided will be need to be provided. Further information can be
found in the Providing Context to What You Do section of
the
RCGP Guide to Revalidation.
I trained as a GP but no longer work
in standard GP Practice. How do I revalidate?
We anticipate that doctors will
revalidate in the role which they carry out. Except in rare
disciplinary cases, you will always remain on the GP register and
this, as with the specialist register, will become a "historical
record of achievement".
You will relate to one Responsible Officer, whatever your
role. You will produce one portfolio of supporting information and
this will describe what you do. If your practice relates to more
than one specialty, you will relate to the Responsible Officer in
the organisation in which you do most of your work and that
organisation will arrange your appraisals. It may be appropriate
for you to complete a GP portfolio but to document your secondary
role as an area of Extended Practice. Further information can be
found in the Providing Context to What You Do section of
the
RCGP Guide to Revalidation.
I am a Locum GP. How will I
collect all the necessary areas of supporting information for
Revalidation?
The RCGP is discussing the needs
of locums with the National Association of Sessional General
Practitioners, the General Practitioners’ Committee of the BMA and
locum doctors themselves. The intention is to design a system for
revalidation that is sensitive to the diverse range of
circumstances in which general practitioners work.
The College undertook a
revalidation pilot that included peripatetic locums, sessional GPs
and remote rural GPs. The potential solutions which were identified
through the pilot for such GPs are detailed in the Supporting
information required for the revalidation of GPs in special
groups section of the
RCGP Guide to Revalidation.
I am a trainee GP, will revalidation affect
me?
The processes for the
revalidation of trainees are currently being piloted.
To provide feedback on any
aspect of Revalidation please click here.