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More than 218,000 doctors now have a Licence to Practise

Doctors in the UK are making history today as the biggest change in medical regulation since the first medical register was published 150 years ago is rolled out.

From today in order to practise medicine in the UK, a doctor will have to be registered with the GMC and have a licence to practise. 218,153 doctors have a licence to practise in the UK.

Professor Peter Rubin, Chair of the GMC explained:

"The successful start to licensing is a major milestone towards the introduction of revalidation, a new process by which doctors will have to regularly demonstrate to the GMC that they remain up to date and fit to practise in the job they do."

Chief Medical Officer Sir Liam Donaldson said:

"I welcome the introduction of the licence to practise by the GMC. It is an important prerequisite for the introduction of revalidation, and a clear signal that revalidation is on its way.

"I congratulate the GMC on its successful communication with the profession about this important change, with a 97% response rate from doctors on whether they wish to take a licence or not."

Licensing has implications for patients, doctors and their employers:

Patients

The law requires that any doctor who treats patients must be registered with a licence to practise.

Only doctors registered with a licence to practice can write prescriptions or sign death certificates.

Doctors who hold registration but not a licence are more likely to be working as an academic or outside the UK, for example, but cannot undertake any of the activities for which the law requires them to hold a licence to practise.

Doctors

A doctor must have a licence in order to legally practise medicine; being registered with the GMC is no longer enough.

A licence to practise will give a doctor practising in the UK the legal authority to write prescriptions, sign death certificates and exercise a wide range of other legal 'privileges'. This applies to all doctors working in the UK, whether working in the NHS or the independent sector, either on a permanent or locum basis.

Employers

Employers of doctors must ensure that the doctors they employ have a licence to practise if their work requires them to do so.

If anyone has any queries about the licence to practise they can contact the GMC on licensing@gmc-uk.org or visit http://www.gmc-uk.org/doctors/licensing/faq/index.asp for our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).

16 Nov 2009

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