Plans to overhaul medical regulations will see doctors in the UK being tested on their performance and made to undergo appraisals on an annual basis, it has been revealed.
The proposals, set out by the General Medical Council (GMC) would see doctors being given a licence to practise every five years, based on the annual appraisals.
The medical profession and patients nationwide have been asked to assess the plans and give their opinions on how the proposals can be introduced.
At present, there are 218,000 doctors in the UK, and the GMC said that the new scheme would be rolled out over a period of five years from 2011.
Niall Dickson (pictured), GMC chief executive, said: “This represents the biggest change in medical regulations for 150 years.
“What we are attempting to do is to move away from a register which is based on a history of qualifications towards a contemporary record, or a near contemporary record of performance.
“This is ambitious in the sense that there is not another nation in the world which has attempted to do this, so we are going to be trail blazers.”
Copyright © Press Association 2010
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