So here we are, into our seventh year since the much-trumpeted launch of … revalidation. Am I the only one left thinking it has been a terrible mistake?
Sadly, the GMC’s data only extends as far as 2016 but still it holds some interest. For example, in the 4 years from 2012, the year revalidation started, the number of doctors registered without a licence to practise almost tripled to over 43 000.1
On the other hand, during the 11 years centred on 2012, although the number of GMC fitness-to-practise investigations rocketed to 2953 in 2013, the number of doctors who had sanctions imposed rose much more modestly, peaking at 517 in 2011, the year before …