Everything your practice needs to know about Revalidation.

1. Revalidation for doctors:
everything your practice
needs to know
NAPC 2012, Birmingham
Ben Whur, General Medical Council
Lucy Warner, NHS Revalidation Support Team

2. The General Medical Council: who we are
We protect, promote and maintain the health and safety of the
public by ensuring proper standards in the practice of medicine.
The law (Medical Act 1983) gives us four main functions:
 keeping up-to-date registers of qualified doctors
 fostering good medical practice
 promoting high standards of medical education and training
 dealing firmly and fairly with doctors whose fitness to practise
is in doubt.
Revalidation provides a new lever for promoting
our overarching statutory purpose.

3. Revalidation is:
• Part of a wider system of measures to promote
improvements in safety and quality
• Intended to ensure all medical practice takes place within a
governed system
• A positive affirmation of a doctors professionalism (based
on GMC’s core guidance Good Medical Practice)
Revalidation isn’t:
• A test or exam with a pass or fail outcome
• A new way to raise concerns about a doctor
• The only purpose or output of appraisal or training
assessment

4. How revalidation works
4

5. Doctors’ supporting information for appraisal
GMC guidance
for all licensed
doctors:
• Good Medical
Practice
Framework for
appraisal and
revalidation
• Supporting
information for
appraisal and
revalidation
5

6. First revalidation cycle: how it will work

7. Revalidation: The role of Practice
Managers
October 2012

8. Overview
Key areas include:
• Robust process for clinical governance
• Identification of sources of supporting information
• Coordinating learning and development opportunities
• Facilitating support for locums
Revalidation is the professional responsibility of the GP.
Practice systems will already exist
to do much of what is needed.
www.revalidationsupport.nhs.uk general-
enquiries@rst.nhs.uk

9. Revalidation: The role of Practice
Managers
Appraisal:
• All doctors to participate in annual appraisal
• Normally coordinated through the PCT (in future LAT)
• PMs can assure all doctors have appraisal scheduled and
have time out for appraisal
www.revalidationsupport.nhs.uk general-
enquiries@rst.nhs.uk

10. Revalidation: The role of Practice
Managers
Supporting information – CPD:
• Help GPs identify practice and patients needs to reflect in
CPD
• Identify opportunities for practice teams and individuals to
undertake CPD
• Consider how meetings, discussions and educational
sessions can contribute
• Consider how locums and short term appointments can
participate
www.revalidationsupport.nhs.uk general-
enquiries@rst.nhs.uk

11. Revalidation: The role of Practice
Managers
Supporting information – QI activity:
• Identify opportunities and topics for clinical audit
• Establish systems & processes for clinical data collection
• Facilitate case based discussions or reviews
• Evaluate & monitor service developments & improvements
• Share reports, audits & data across the medical workforce
so each can do their own personal reflection
• Consider how locums and short term appointments can
participate
www.revalidationsupport.nhs.uk general-
enquiries@rst.nhs.uk

12. Revalidation: The role of Practice
Managers
Supporting information – Significant events:
• Ensure systems & processes to identify, report and log
• Lead SE analysis & investigations
• Facilitate team/practice based discussions to reflect on the
event
• Identify any themes or patterns to contribute to lessons
learnt and areas for improvement
• Inform & involve all parties & provide opportunities for
discussion (including locums & secondary care clinicians)
www.revalidationsupport.nhs.uk general-
enquiries@rst.nhs.uk

13. Revalidation: The role of Practice
Managers
Supporting information – Colleague feedback:
• Provide feedback – a PM is ‘a colleague’
• Establish objective systems for distribution, collation &
analysis of questionnaires
• Ensure practice team are able to contribute feedback in an
objective way
• Support the doctor in identifying suitable colleagues (esp.
in small practices)
• Support & facilitate distribution for locums
www.revalidationsupport.nhs.uk general-
enquiries@rst.nhs.uk

14. Revalidation: The role of Practice
Managers
Supporting information – Patient feedback:
• Establish objective systems for distribution, collation &
analysis of questionnaires
• Develop patient information leaflets and/or work with
patient groups to help them understand the purpose and
value of feedback
• Consider how the full range of patients can be given an
opportunity to feedback e.g. nursing homes, children,
carers
• Support & facilitate distribution for locums
www.revalidationsupport.nhs.uk general-
enquiries@rst.nhs.uk

15. Revalidation: The role of Practice
Managers
Supporting information – Compliments & Complaints:
• Establish systems and process for collation of both
positive and negative feedback, from patients and others
(secondary care clinicians, pharmacists etc)
• Ensure a patient complaint & compliment policy is in place
and widely explained
• Establish processes for reporting and analysing feedback
for themes and learning opportunities
• Ensure all doctors (inc. locums) are aware of feedback
about them
• Provide exit reports for locums and short term
appointments
www.revalidationsupport.nhs.uk general-
enquiries@rst.nhs.uk

16. Revalidation: The role of Practice
Managers
Actions:
• Consider the readiness of your current practice systems
• Encourage all doctors to read and understand the
GMC’s guidance
• Explain the requirements of revalidation to the wider
practice team
• Identify the responsible officer for all doctors working in
your practice (esp. locums)
• Consider opportunities for locums and short term
appointments to participate in practice clinical
governance activities
www.revalidationsupport.nhs.uk

17. Questions
www.revalidationsupport.nhs.uk general-
enquiries@rst.nhs.uk

18. Help and information
General Medical Council:
• Visit www.gmc-uk.org/revalidation
• Email revalidation@gmc-uk.org
NHS Revalidation Support Team:
• Visit www.revalidationsupport.nhs.uk
• Email general-enquiries@rst.nhs.uk