The Annual Retention Process and Maintaining Registration
General or Specialist Registration
The registration period runs from 1st July 2009 to 30th June 2010. Your Certificate of Registration will expire on 30th June regardless of the date you applied[1]. You are then required to pay the current annual retention fee and complete the required retention process. You will normally be required to update your registration details. This includes informing the Medical Council if you have completed medical specialist training, and whether any material matter would be likely to affect the continuation of your registration (for example, the practise of medicine and/or any current or pending disciplinary proceedings in another jurisdiction[2]). At the Council's discretion, any registered medical practitioner who fails to pay the appropriate annual retention fee within a specified period of time may be removed from the Register[3].
Trainee Specialist Registration
Medical practitioners who hold trainee specialist registration are required to submit Application Form TSR1 and pay the current annual retention fee if they occupy any individually numbered, identifiable, medical specialist training post(s) during that registration year, regardless of the duration of the post(s). If you held temporary registration under the 1978 Act, but were not registered on the Register Establishment Day, you must apply as a first-time applicant for trainee specialist registration. However, if you recently passed or were exempted from the TRAS, you may not be required to pass the PRES[4].
Internship Registration
Medical practitioners who hold internship registration are initially provided with a Certificate of Registration valid for one calendar year, normally from July to June or January to December. On expiry of the Certificate of Registration, you will normally have completed your internship training and will apply for trainee specialist registration, so that you may commence medical specialist training at Senior House Officer level. In the event that you have not completed your internship training within your first year of internship registration, you are required to pay the relevant annual retention fee in order to obtain a further Certificate of Registration valid for either six or twelve months. This depends on the duration required to complete your internship training. You may also be required to provide a reference from the Dean/Head of your medical school and/or your most recent supervising consultant and/or employer. If you complete your internship training and intend taking up a training post abroad, you may apply to voluntarily withdraw your name from the Register.
All registered medical practitioners who fail to pay the appropriate annual retention fee within a specified period of time may be removed from the Register[5], at the Council's discretion.
Change of Address or other Registration Details
One of the requirements of every registered medical practitioner is to provide a registered address - an address at which they are contactable for the purposes of their registration and their practice. The choice of what address is used is up to each individual registered medical practitioner and the Medical Council recommends a work address. Whatever address is chosen, it must be one which the Medical Council can use when communicating on registration and related matters.
Any application for a change of registration details, including address, should be made in writing by post, fax, email or online, quoting their registered name, registration number, current registered address, date of birth and mother's maiden/birth name (for security reasons).
Where a medical practitioner wishes to change their registered name, they are required to provide a notarised copy of their State Marriage Certificate or a Deed Poll as evidence that they may legally use the changed name.
[1] For invoicing purposes, initial registration granted during the months of May and June is granted until 30th June of the following registration year.
[2] The provisions of section 55 of the Act will apply.
[3] The provisions of section 79 of the Act will apply.
[4] See Rules Specifying Pre-Registration Examinations and Exemptions
[5] The provisions of section 79 of the Act will apply.