A number of patient organisations have joined forces and called upon the UK Government to give the go ahead for revalidation.
A joint statement by nine patient representative bodies including the Patients Association, National Voices and the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges Patient/Lay Group to Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has urged him to confirm revalidation is on track to open at the end of 2012.
“We support the revalidation of doctors and the additional assurance it will provide patients about the doctors who treat them,” said the joint statement.
”Revalidation will be an important statement that a doctor is competent in their area of practice. We recognise the contribution that revalidation can make over time to the quality and safety of care that patients receive.
”We trust that the Secretary of State for Health will make this decision with the views and interests of patients paramount by ensuring there is no further delay in revalidating doctors’ licences.”
It is believed while the General Medical Council (GMC) has declared itself ready for revalidation; the case for implementing the policy is with Lansley and devolved nation equivalents.
Niall Dickson, Chief Executive of the GMC, said the patient organisations are right to call for no further delay to revalidation and the time has come to “get on with it”.
“We welcome the support of the nine patient organisations as it shows the importance of revalidation to patients across the UK,” he said.
“This is what patients expect to happen and these organisations are rightly calling for no further delay.
‘The good news is that health organisations across the UK are tightening up their arrangements for overseeing and supporting doctors. This should improve patient safety and provide more assurance to patients that the doctor treating them is a good doctor. We have been talking about this reform for more than ten years – now we need to get on with it.”
