GMC announces discounts for newly-qualified doctors

Newly-qualified doctors applying for GMC registration this April will save almost £1,200 over the next six years through discounted fees, the regulator has announced.

Doctors starting provisional registration next April will save a total of £1,190 in GMC fees over their first six years, the regulator has announced.

They will save £40 on their provisional registration and £50 on their first full year of registration from 1 April 2018. They will then save £275 per year for the next four years on their annual retention fee.

The GMC expects some 7,000 new doctors to sign up this year and receive the full package of discounts.

A further 41,000 who have been registered for less than six years will also receive some discounts for the remaining years. Retrospective discounts will not be offered.

All doctors who have held full registration for more than five years will receive a discount of £35 on their annual retention fee, bringing the cost down from £425 to £390.

GMC fees

The GMC said the move was made possible due to saving efforts, including the relocation of more than 130 jobs from London to Manchester and streamlining of its fitness to practise procedures.

Chair Professor Terence Stephenson said the discounts were intended to ease the pressure on doctors new to medical practice and the wider medical profession.

He added: ‘Many professionals find their first years in work the most financially challenging as they face a host of new expenses.

‘The cost of student loans, indemnity insurance, monthly subscriptions and on-going training amount to significant sums.

‘We are determined to reduce the cost of regulation, both for individual doctors and the health system as a whole.

‘With greater flexibility to our underpinning legislation – something we hope the government will deliver as quickly as possible once its current consultation is over – we could deliver further benefits for doctors and patients, even more efficiently.’

BMA chair Dr Chaand Nagpaul said: 'Doctors will be pleased that the GMC is listening to the profession and reducing the costs of regulation, particularly for our newly qualified doctors.

'In the long term it is important that the annual retention fee remains affordable and proportionate.'

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