Newshound

Pilot shows that revalidation can be straightforward

Publication date:  28 Oct 2009

Revalidation can be straightforward for doctors provided that clinical governance and appraisal are well embedded in the organisation they work for, says a report from the General Medical Council (GMC).

The council’s revalidation programme board has heard evidence from three projects designed to help smooth the introduction of the revalidation process.

One project, in Wales, looked at whether current appraisal systems could be used for revalidation. It also looked at developing an assessment tool to provide Local Health Boards with feedback on how prepared their systems are.

It found that clinical governance and appraisal systems were already well embedded within primary care in Wales. Indications from the project are that implementing revalidation is likely to be a smooth process where there is already good healthcare governance.

“The findings from these projects are extremely encouraging and helpful as we begin to plan how revalidation will be implemented,” said Keith Pearson, chair of the UK Revalidation Programme Board.

“The Welsh project in particular underlines that revalidation can be straightforward for doctors and their healthcare organisations provided that clinical governance and appraisal are well embedded.”

The other two projects were in Buckinghamshire primary care trust and among locum doctors.

Buckinghamshire primary care trust worked with the GMC to develop a questionnaire that could be used in appraisal discussions.

Locum doctors were invited by NHS Employers to take part in an appraisal process with a trained appraiser and asked to provide feedback on their experience.

The findings from all the projects will help to inform the GMC’s development of revalidation policy.

“We are looking forward to the findings from other projects and pilots that are underway or planned to begin next year,” said Mr Pearson.

The GMC plans to launch a consultation early in 2010 on key aspects of how revalidation will work.