GMC to restart GP revalidation from August

The GMC is to begin contacting GPs who did not have their revalidation rescheduled as a result of the pandemic, Pulse has learned.

The earliest date doctors will be given for revalidation is August, giving four months notice, the regulator said.

In 2020, the GMC delayed revalidation for more than 50,000 doctors who had been due to revalidate between March 2020 and March 2021 for up to a year.

The ongoing demands of the pandemic then led to another 9,000 doctors who had been due to revalidate between March and July this year being allowed to postpone.

One in three doctors successfully revalidated well ahead of their rescheduled date, the GMC said.

A spokesperson told Pulse on Thursday 8 April they would be getting in touch with doctors whose revalidation was not affected by changes due to the pandemic and those who were rescheduled would have ongoing flexibility.

Una Lane, Director of Registration and Revalidation said: ‘In the coming weeks we’ll begin contacting doctors who have revalidation dates scheduled from August 2021 to explain next steps and outline options for those not yet ready to revalidate.
 
‘In light of pandemic pressures, last year we rescheduled dates for over 60,000 doctors with the flexibility to complete their revalidation earlier should they wish to do so – over a third chose this option.  ‘As the NHS begins to recover from one of its most challenging years, we’ll continue to support doctors and responsible officers so that decisions on how and when doctors should revalidate can be taken at a local level’.

In November, the RCGP called for GP appraisals to be suspended for up to a year due to workload pressures.

Note: This article was updated at 16.15 on Thursday 8 April to reflect the GMC’s clarification that the August restart affects GPs who did not have their revalidation postponed.