The chair of the General Medical Council (GMC) has become the first doctor in the UK to revalidate under the new system of checks introduced earlier this month (3 December 2012).
Professor Sir Peter Rubin, a consultant physician and professor of therapeutics at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, said he was “delighted” to become revalidated through the new process.
“I am delighted to be the first doctor in the UK to revalidate,” he said.
“This is the biggest change to medical regulation since the GMC was established in 1858 and change always brings some uncertainty to those it affects.
“However, to my medical colleagues I’d say that in this age of transparency our patients will expect nothing less.”
Professor Rubin said “nobody is perfect” and claimed the patient and colleague feedback he had received over the past few years have been “helpful” in “reaffirming all the things I do well and also in identifying what I can do better”.
“For the vast majority of doctors, revalidation will be about improving still further their high standards of practice,” he said.
The decision to revalidate Professor Rubin’s license was made following a positive recommendation from his responsible officer to the GMC.
Responsible officers can make a positive recommendation when they are satisfied that the doctor is participating in an annual appraisal process based on the GMC’s core guidance, Good Medical Practice, has collected and reflected on the supporting information required by the GMC, including feedback from patients and colleagues and that there are no concerns about the doctor’s fitness to practise.
Revalidation – a new system of checks on doctors – means the UK’s 230,000 licensed doctors are now legally required to show they are keeping up-to-date with new ways of working and research and are fit to practise.
Doctors will be required to revalidate on a regular basis, usually every five years.
