Features: Revalidation: your chance to have your say

29 January 2010

We want to hear from you.

The GMC will shortly be seeking your views on revalidation, to ensure that it is as fair and effective as possible.

On 1 March the GMC will be launching a major consultation on revalidation and how it will affect doctors across the UK. The consultation will explore a number of issues regarding the processes that need to be developed to support revalidation. The consultation will help us to develop our detailed policy around revalidation and to work towards taking the practical steps that are needed to implement it. We want all interested parties, including doctors, employers, and patients and the public, to let us have their views, so that we can make sure revalidation is as effective, fair and robust as possible.

Progress to date

Last July, GMCtoday carried a series of articles looking at the preparatory work being done by the GMC and others on revalidation and, in particular, the pilots and projects being undertaken throughout the UK to test various aspects of the process in advance of the introduction and roll out of revalidation. Since then a wide-ranging programme of work has been carried out on a number of policy issues, not only by the GMC, but by a wide range of organisations with an interest in the development of revalidation, such as the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges. In each of the four parts of the UK, delivery boards are working to ensure that local systems of appraisal and clinical governance are sufficiently developed to support revalidation. This work is also being overseen on behalf of the GMC by a UK Revalidation Programme Board.

The revalidation consultation

The GMC’s revalidation consultation will cover four main themes:

How revalidation will work. This will consider some general questions about our approach to revalidation, including the process by which a final recommendation will be made to the GMC by a designated ‘Responsible Officer’ likely to be the medical director in a doctor’s employing organisation.
More specific issues, such as how revalidation will work for doctors in non-mainstream roles, will also be considered.
What doctors and employers will be required to do. The consultation will consider aspects of appraisal and assessment, the specialty standards developed by the Medical Royal Colleges and Faculties, the role of continuing professional development in the contextof revalidation and the principles and criteria for multi-source feedback.
How patients will be involved. This section explains how patients can provide feedback to doctors on their performance and how this will be included in the revalidation process.
How and when revalidation will be introduced. This section, also explains
our proposals for implementation across the four countries of the UK.

Having your say

The consultation runs until the end of May 2010. We want you to be involved and to give us your views. You will be able to respond electronically, using our consultation website. Alternatively, we welcome comments in writing or by email. Full details of the consultation and how you can respond will be available from 1 March on the GMC website at www.gmc-uk.org/revalidation

Professor Malcolm Lewis, Chair of the GMC’s Continued Practice Board, said: ‘A huge amount of work has been done in 2009 by everyone involved in revalidation. Much of this work has been behind the scenes but, in the consultation, we will be seeking the views of all interested parties on the model for revalidation. In 2010, the four UK countries will also be increasing piloting activity to test the local systems, ensuring that they are effective and robust without imposing unnecessary costs or burdens on doctors or the NHS and other healthcare providers.

Ensuring the implementation of revalidation remains a major priority for the GMC, Medical Royal Colleges, the four UK Health Departments and employers. Through this major programme of work we aim to ensure readiness for revalidation from 2011.’

We will have more information about the consultation in the next issue of GMCtoday. In the meantime, if you have any questions about revalidation, you can find more information including a comprehensive set of frequently asked questions at www.gmc-uk.org/revalidation