Doctor reference checks — GMC conduct, clinical practice and fitness to practise

What doctor employment references should cover

A doctor employment reference should cover clinical practice standards and decision-making, professional relationships with patients, nursing staff and colleagues, adherence to GMC Good Medical Practice standards, any clinical incidents, complaints or significant events, any disciplinary proceedings or capability concerns, any referrals to or investigations by the GMC, safeguarding suitability, and whether the referee would have any concerns about the candidate's fitness to practise as a doctor. A reference that does not address these areas provides almost no useful clinical risk information.

GMC fitness to practise and employer references

The GMC fitness to practise process is triggered by concerns reported by employers, colleagues, patients or other healthcare professionals. But many doctor conduct concerns are resolved by employing organisations without GMC referral. A doctor may have been subject to significant clinical performance procedures or a restriction of practice agreement with a previous employer — none of which appears on their GMC registration status or DBS record. A reference with specific GMC conduct questions is the only mechanism for surfacing these concerns.

RefAssure medical templates include mandatory GMC fitness to practise questions, clinical incident fields, professional conduct questions and safeguarding suitability. Every doctor reference generates a PDF with full audit trail satisfying NHS Employment Check Standards and CQC Regulation 19. For locum agencies supplying doctors, the PDF provides shareable evidence of compliant reference checking for NHS trust hirers.