Guidance aims to improve revalidation

GUIDANCE aimed at improving the revalidation experience of doctors has been published by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges.

Tailor-made guides have been produced for each specialty detailing the supporting information required for appraisal and revalidation. They are designed to be read in conjunction with the General Medical Council’s guidance on the process.

An appraisal guide tells doctors what to expect from their appraiser and emphasises that the process should not be a “box-ticking exercise”.

The academy has also written a report with recommendations on improving the revalidation process based on three surveys which received almost 1,000 responses from doctors, appraisers and responsible officers.

While many said they found the appraisal process to be supportive and well-managed, concerns were raised about bureaucracy, the time required for appraisal, “cumbersome IT systems” and the ability of current appraisal systems to identify poorly performing doctors.

The survey also found the three most challenging areas in developing a portfolio of supporting information were patient feedback, quality improvement activity and significant events (i.e. critical incidents).

The resources, produced by the academy’s Specialty Guidance Group (SGG), have been shared with all 20 medical royal colleges and faculties to allow them to update their own specialty guidance.

SGG chair Dr Ian Starke said: “The value of the report lies in the collected revalidation experience of doctors, appraisers and responsible officers – we have listened to their views and made recommendations based on the support they felt would improve their experience.

"The colleges and faculties have now updated their specialty guidance, and we hope that this will result in a better revalidation experience for all concerned.”

Access the resources at: https://www.aomrc.org.uk/revalidation-cpd/