The GMC has declared itself ‘ready' for revalidation and signalled its intention to stick to its intended timetable and begin the rollout from December.
The regulator said its revalidation delivery board had made ‘significant progress' on the work to prepare its internal systems for revalidation, and added its internal auditors had ensured everything will be in place by December.
The declaration is based only on an internal assessment, and does not take into account the readiness assessments that all PCTs have had to submit to the Department of Health.
But the GMC said it had decided to complete and sign off draft regulation for revalidation, subject to the outcome of the DH readiness assessment, which the Government will publish in the autumn.
Niall Dickson, chief executive of the GMC, said: ‘Revalidation is on its way. Subject to the secretary of state's decision to switch on the legislation, from the end of this year we will begin to tell each doctor the date when he or she will be expected to revalidate.
‘We are entering a new phase – after years of discussion about the principle, the reality of revalidation is imminent. We will be ready to start delivering revalidation from the end of this year and we are confident the healthcare systems across the UK will also be ready. Now is the time to get on with this.'
