At the launch of the GMC's consultation on revalidation, GMC chief executive Niall Dickson said revalidation will provide the opportunity to learn more about the 20,000 EU doctors working in the UK.

EU doctors who register with the GMC will be required to take part in revalidation, a spokeswoman for the regulator confirmed.

This means EU doctors working in the UK, including locums, will be required to have a responsible officer and to take part in annual appraisals.

Mr Dickson said: 'At the moment we know nothing about the EU doctors working in the UK, but we hope in some sense revalidation will provide more assurance than we are currently able to give about their fitness to practise because they will be subject to revalidation in exactly the same ways as UK doctors.'

Una Lane, acting GMC director of continued practice and revalidation, said: 'We are conscious of the fact that there are some limitations to what we can do now legally, but I think there are some positives aspects to the revalidation story about what we can potentially do in the future.'

GMC Consultation
The revalidation consultation covers four key themes:

• How revalidation will work, including doctors in non-mainstream roles.
• What doctors and employers must do.
• How patients will be involved and give feedback.
• How and when revalidation will be introduced.