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19/10/2012
Doctors Skills To Be Checked Every Five Years
The biggest shake-up in medical regulation for more than 150 years will begin in December, as doctors will face regular checks on their skills.
The UK's 220,000 doctors will have annual appraisals, with a decision taken every five years on whether they are fit to continue working, in a move which the health secretary said was about addressing "deficiencies" in skills.
But it will be April 2016 before the vast majority of the first rounds of checks have been done.
Jeremy Hunt said that if doctors failed to satisfy the standards of the General Medical Council (GMC) they would be prevented from practising, adding that the new system was about identifying where there were "gaps" in knowledge or skills and giving doctors a "chance to put those issues right".
"At the end of the day if the GMC is not satisfied that someone is up to speed then, yes, they will be prevented from practising," he told BBC Breakfast.
He said this would give the public confidence that the UK had the most thorough regulatory process for its doctors.
(H)
The UK's 220,000 doctors will have annual appraisals, with a decision taken every five years on whether they are fit to continue working, in a move which the health secretary said was about addressing "deficiencies" in skills.
But it will be April 2016 before the vast majority of the first rounds of checks have been done.
Jeremy Hunt said that if doctors failed to satisfy the standards of the General Medical Council (GMC) they would be prevented from practising, adding that the new system was about identifying where there were "gaps" in knowledge or skills and giving doctors a "chance to put those issues right".
"At the end of the day if the GMC is not satisfied that someone is up to speed then, yes, they will be prevented from practising," he told BBC Breakfast.
He said this would give the public confidence that the UK had the most thorough regulatory process for its doctors.
(H)
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Northern Ireland WeatherToday:A sunny but frosty start for many. However cloud increases by midday with a few showers reaching the north coast, these mostly light but spreading inland this afternoon. Chilly. Maximum temperature 8 °C.Tonight:A rather cloudy evening with scattered showers. Becoming drier through the night with some good clear spells developing and a patchy frost away from coasts. Minimum temperature 0 °C.
