NHS Revalidation Support Team (RST)

Implementation process and timeline 

The GMC has produced a paper, Implementing Revalidation, setting out the key principles by which the implementation of revalidation in the UK will be achieved over the first cycle. The paper has been agreed across the four UK health departments and explains the roles of the national and local bodies and the steps we will need to take during 2012. It describes the criteria responsible officers can use in deciding whether a doctor is ready for a revalidation recommendation and whether their portfolio of supporting information is adequate.

Read the GMC paper

Implementation in England

Implementation in England is expected to follow the following timetable:

• recommendations to be made on all level two responsible officers (SHA cluster responsible officers) by December 2012
• recommendations to be made on all level one responsible officers (designated body responsible officers) by April 2013
• all designated bodies are to have made recommendations on at least some of their doctors by April 2014
• recommendations will have been made on a representative sample of 20% of all doctors in each SHA cluster by April 2014
• recommendations to have been made on all other doctors by April 2016.

The RST has produced a paper describing the allocation of dates for recommendations to groups of doctors in England in the initial years of revalidation. The process is based on the key implementation principles outlined in the GMC paper. It describes the methods of allocation of doctors to each year group and how the readiness criteria can be applied. 

Implementation of Revalidation: The process for the allocation of revalidation recommendation dates to doctors in England

The Appraisal and Revalidation of Responsible Officers in England

All responsible officers will need to demonstrate through appraisal and supporting information that they are up to date and fit to practise in the role of responsible officer.

The RST has produced a paper, The Appraisal and Revalidation of Responsible Officers in England, which aims to inform the systems and processes that should be put in place within each strategic health authority (SHA) or strategic health authority cluster (SHA cluster), for the monitoring and oversight of responsible officers.

The Appraisal and Revalidation of Responsible Officers in England