All doctors who wish to retain their licence to practise need to participate in revalidation.

The system of revalidation is underpinned by a national Framework of Quality Assurance, which sets out activities to be undertaken by organisations employing or contracting doctors (“designated bodies”) to prove confidence in the quality of those doctors. The mandatory Annual Organisational Audit (AOA) is one element of this Framework.

The audit is overseen by a senior doctor and provides a status report on the implementation of revalidation and appraisal uptake in the designated body. NHS England will contact designated bodies in advance of the collection launch with a link to an online collection tool to submit the AOA data.