I no longer see patients but do some medico-legal work. Do I need to revalidate?

All doctors carrying out clinical duties must have a licence to practise and will need to revalidate in order to maintain it.

The GMC does not require doctors undertaking purely medico-legal work to hold a licence to practise, unless of course you are examining patients; however, some insurers and solicitors do ask that their experts to hold a licence to practise so you may wish to confirm with each instructing firm.

If you relinquish your licence to practise you should remember that you cannot carry out functions requiring a licence, for example, prescribing medications.