England’s health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has announced that revalidation will begin on 3 December this year.

Revalidation requires that all doctors in the United Kingdom, including locums and doctors working in the private sector, prove every five years that their knowledge is up to date and that they are fit to practise.

Responsible officers (those in charge of making sure that all doctors at their organisation are revalidated) and medical leaders will be revalidated by March 2013. About a fifth of doctors will be revalidated between April 2013 and March 2014, while the majority will be covered by the end of March 2016 and any remaining doctors by the …