Britain's General Medical Council (GMC) has agreed that specialists and GPs must be able to show–on a regular basis–that they are keeping up to date and remain fit to practise.

The council passed this recommendation unanimously at its recent biannual meeting and agreed to set up a steering group to propose appropriate mechanisms, including revalidation. It decided, however, to leave on the table a recommendation that the revalidation should be linked to entry in the specialist register and a general practice equivalent until the steering grouphas reported. …