Link to Revalidation

Appraisal and Revalidation

Trust, Assurance and Safety
The Government's White Paper on Revalidation

This document published in Feburuary 2007 sets out the plans for revalidation based on the CMO report Good Doctors, Safer Patients published in July 2006.

Most of the proposals in the CMO report have been incorporated in this document but there have been some subtle changes. The core principles seem to be as follows.

  • Revalidation will incorporate two processes; relicensure to maintain registration with the GMC and recertification which will involve the Royal Colleges introducing some form of summative assessment process which might include knowledge and skills testing.
  • Relicensure will be based on annual appraisal. This will however be modified to be consistent in all areas and will have some summative (pass/fail) elements.
  • GMC affiliates will be established. Rather than attachment to local trusts these will be based at regional level presumably in parallel with local Deanery arrangements.
  • The burden of proof will be changed in fitness-to-practise cases. The current criminal standard (beyond reasonable doubt) will be changed to the civil standard (balance of probabilities). This will be applied on a sliding scale where in situations where a doctor’s registration is in question the standard will still approach that of a criminal court.
  • Adjudication will pass to an independent body. The GMC will effectively lose its role as a ‘court’ but will retain its investigation and assessment processes.

The full document (100 pages!) can be accessed at the following link:

Trust, assurance and safety: the regulation of health professionals

The executive summary and Chapter 2 are of the most relevance to us.

Principles of Appraisal RCGP Document March 2008

This document seeks to outline the development of the appraisal system in order to support and inform both relicensing and revalidation.

Contained within it is a reference to the development of standards of evidence required for recertification. It is now increasingly important that the summary of the appraisal paperwork – Form 4 and the PDP – contain the evidence that may be required for revalidation (see “What to Include”)

Medical Revalidation – Principles and Next Steps

Support for appraisal for all doctors working in the NHS

Milton Keynes PCT GP Appraisal Framework

MKPCT GP Appraisal Framework June 2008 - ( MS Word presentation <169Kb )