The BMA and the General Medical Council, which regulates the medical profession in the United Kingdom, have avoided a split over revalidation procedures after a meeting last week. Dr Ian Bogle, chairman of the BMA's council, said he had been "reassured" over most points.
The BMA had threatened to draw up its own proposals for revalidation after a meeting of the BMA Central Consultants and Specialists Committee earlier this month (20 October, p 888). The GMC's draft document, The Process of Revalidation , was criticised for being bureaucratic and making the same mistakes as earlier drafts.
A spokesman for the GMC said that some issues would "require further work" and that the organisation would be rewriting the document. The BMA had 12 sticking points on which it wanted reassurance from the GMC. Details of these points have now been sent to all BMA council members, who have been invited to respond before the next council meeting in November.
Some progress has been made, however. In particular, the BMA's concerns about a two tier system of licensing and registration were allayed. Doctors who participate successfully in revalidation will be identified in the medical register by the letter "L" (for licensed). Doctors who do not take part in revalidation can remain on the medical register but would not be licensed to practice.
Reassurances were also given on revalidation of doctors taking career breaks. Evidence of fitness to practise would be accepted even if they had not been working for the full five years preceding their revalidation date. The GMC also confirmed that the NHS's appraisal system would be the revalidation vehicle for "the great majority of NHS consultants."
The GMC spokesman said the council believed that "the paper that will be presented to council on 6-7 November will reflect the progress needed to keep revalidation on course for implementation in 2002." Revalidation of doctors could then start in 2004, with 20% of doctors being revalidated each year.
The GMC's revalidation proposals can be found at http://www.gmc-uk.org/revalidation/pdffrm.htmlwww.gmc-uk.org/revalidation/pdffrm.html
