What is the background to revalidation?

Before revalidation, a qualified, registered doctor remained entitled to practise medicine, unless a concern was brought to the attention of the GMC and it took action upon the doctor’s registration.

While doctors were expected to maintain their professional competence, in many cases there were no specific checks to ensure they did. In the wake of the high-profile cases of Ledward and Shipman, the GMC proposed, in 1999, to introduce a system of monitoring doctors.

The process has been a number of years in the planning and the fifth report of the Shipman Inquiry was a significant driving force in the development of revalidation.