The verification offering is designed to digitally certify the identity of all UK-working doctors as per the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology’s (DSIT) identity assurance standards.
According to the official statement, the new offering is expected to transform the registration process for the GMC staff and doctors. The new product is said to be secure, convenient, and safe.
The launch of this new service is part of a larger modernisation effort within the GMC that started in April 2023. Initially, the new offering will be extended to all doctors who want to practice in the UK and, later in 2023, the programme will also cover medical students.
The new product aims to tackle a significant challenge in the UK’s medical field, as all registered doctors must have their identities checked by the GMC prior to joining the official medical register. The new app developed in collaboration with Digidentity will provide doctors with the convenience of digitally verifying their identity instead of the traditional requirement of in-person verification at a GMC office.
A representative from Digidentity noted in the official release that the new service also aims to assist GMC in complying with their mandated obligations, reduce the chance of ID theft and fraud, and sustain the rigour of the doctor's registration process.
From the doctors’ perspective, the new service is expected to make the identity verification process faster and more convenient. Another advantage cited in the official release is that doctors will no longer need to travel to obtain the verification. Therefore, doctors are anticipated to save time and money.
However, the new service still allows doctors who want to verify their identity in person to do so.
Digidentity is a certified identity platform that has, up until this point, verified over 25 million identities across 180 countries. The platform has reportedly received the Qualified Trust Service Provider and Identity Service Provider accreditation, thus making it government certified.
Once a user has had their identity verified via the platform and has provided their consent, their selected data can then be shared with the organisation that they have logged in.
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