RCPCH designated roles
These are the current RCPCH expectations for those undertaking specific roles in support of College work/objectives.
| Roles | Requirements |
|---|---|
|
Examiners (MRCPCH and DCH) Assessors for RCPCHStart Question Board members |
Licence to practise and ‘full and continuous engagement’ with revalidation processes required, regardless of whether clinically active or otherwise. Individual roles carry specific suitability criteria in addition to licence to practise expectations. |
| Working group and committee members - for Research & Quality Improvement Division |
Licence to practise required by default for most roles, although GMC (General Medical Council) registration may be sufficient (subject to individual role descriptions / nomination processes). The majority of these roles require the individual to be clinically active, and therefore hold a licence to practise. Retired members may be engaged due to specific expertise, although will generally operate in groups / committees involving a mix of contributors with licence to practise and GMC registration only. |
| Working group members and course faculty - for Education & Professional Development team (includes content generation, programme delivery, facilitation, evaluation and quality assurance) | GMC registration sufficient in most cases.
In limited circumstances, where requirement to be clinically active is specified in role description, licence to practise and full engagement with revalidation will be expected by default. |
| Contributors of invited review service | GMC registration sufficient in most cases.
Where the commissioning organisation specifically requests a clinically-active reviewer, and/or the nature/aspects of the review appear to indicate such an approach, a licence to practise will be required. |
|
Interviewers (specialty training, subspecialty training, Medical Training Initiative) Question setters |
GMC registration required; licence to practise not essential.
Scheduling of interviewers/question setters will be coordinated to ensure that at least one of each pair holds a licence to practise and is actively engaging with revalidation. |
| Question generation facilitators | GMC registration only required. |
Non-RCPCH roles
| Role | Requirements |
|---|---|
| Assessor for adoption agencies | Based on BAAF Health Group document ‘Model Job Descriptions and Competencies for Medical Advisers in Adoption and Fostering’, assumed that individuals fulfilling such roles would not be retired; licence to practise is therefore required by default. |
| Medico-legal reporting/acting as an Expert Medical Witness | Licence to practise expected if providing expert opinion on current practice. For those providing occasional expert opinion on the standard of care considered acceptable at the time they were clinically active, GMC registration may suffice. Where this is the case,current status should be made clear to both solicitor and Medical Defence Organisation. For child protection related medico-legal work, up-to-date expertise in the assessment of child protection concerns and knowledge of the current evidence base is essential, although a licence to practice may not be. |
| Named or Designated Doctor for Safeguarding | Licence to practise expected by default for doctors still clinically active. Employing Trust/body may expect the same for those who are retired. |
| Advisor or Trustee for charity/hospice | GMC registration sufficient unless advising on active clinical practice issues, in which case licence to practise expected. Where advising on practice related to pre-retirement period, GMC status should be made clear to employing body. |
| Sitting on registration tribunals (eg for NMC) | Assumed GMC registration required as a minimum, with licence to practise expected where current medical knowledge specified for role. |
| Clinical and non-clinical teaching | Contract- and Job Description-dependent: Trusts may expect licence to practise; GMC registration assumed to suffice where contract is held by university alone. |
| Continuing research projects and/or Research Fellow supervision | Contract-dependent: for NHS (honorary contract) requirement for licence to practise is assumed; for university alone GMC registration may be expected. |
| Overseas work – clinical | UK employer may expect licence to practise even if working overseas; GMC registration likely to suffice for non-UK employers.Doctors undertaking voluntary work may not require a licence to practise (and those wishing to retain one may experience difficulties connecting with a designated body in the UK where the voluntary organisation is not one). |
| Overseas work – teaching | As above, although GMC registration alone should suffice. |
| Fundraising activities | Assumed neither licence to practise nor GMC registration required. |
| Mentoring | Assumed neither licence to practise nor GMC registration required. |