Revalidation: clearer and closer

The General Medical Council (GMC) is consulting on its proposals for revalidation.1 The new UK Secretary of State for Health, Andrew Lansley, has confirmed his support for revalidation but delayed its introduction by a year. These are the latest in a series of veils being lifted to give us a clearer picture of what revalidation will look like, how it will work, and when it will start.2–4 So what do we know at the moment? Revalidation will become a 5-year cycle rather than a fifth-year process. While the greatest change to the regulation of the medical profession in 150 years is not yet set in stone, the way ahead is being defined. The current ‘pathfinder pilots’5 should lead to an ‘early adopter phase’ in which the first doctors, including GPs, will be revalidated in 2012. All doctors will need to experience a strengthened annual appraisal,6 agreeing supporting information each year that will inform their revalidation. Every doctor will have a Responsible Officer7 (likely to be in place by October 2010) who will make a recommendation to the …