REVALIDATION:THE BASICS

January 2013

What is revalidation?

• Revalidation is not an FPH process• Revalidation is the process whereby

you will:• a) maintain your GMC licence to

practiceor

• b) maintain your place on the UK Public Health Specialist Register

Process

• Revalidation is a five-year cycle based on annual appraisal

• Annual appraisal to discuss entire scope of practice

• Specific inputs and outputs• Recommendation is made to the

regulator once every five years

Basic requirement

• Connect to a Responsible Officer• Annual appraisal meeting based on a

discussion of supporting information from your entire scope of practice provided against the Framework of Good Medical Practice (applies to GMC and UKPHR).

Who is my RO?

• Connection to the RO is prescribed. There is no choice

• Usually via your employer (or PHE for LA employees)

• If in training: your Deanery• You only have one RO, who will make a

recommendation to the GMC about the totality of your work

REQUIRES UPDATING

The ‘RO’ system - GMC

• ‘Prescribed connection’ to ‘designated body’ is set in law (i.e. no choice)

• RO of your designated body makes a recommendation to the GMC

• GMC sets revalidation date

The ‘RO’ system - UKPHR

• ‘Prescribed connection’ to ‘designated body’ is same as GMC (i.e. no choice)

• RO of your designated body makes a recommendation to the UKPHR

• UKPHR sets revalidation date

Evidence-based Appraisal

• Information about ENTIRE SCOPE of your work

• Keep up to date• CPD and reflection

• Review your practise• Quality improvement• Significant events• Compliments and complaints

• Get feedback• Colleagues• Patients and carers

Supporting Information

The supporting information that you will need to bring to your appraisal will fall under four broad headings:•General information - providing context about what you do in all aspects of your work.•Keeping up to date - maintaining and enhancing the quality of your professional work.•Review of your practice - evaluating the quality of your professional work.•Feedback on your practice - how others perceive the quality of your professional work.

Supporting Information

There are six types of supporting information that you will be expected to provide and discuss at your appraisal at least once in each five-year cycle. They are:

1. Continuing professional development2. Quality improvement activity3. Significant events4. Feedback from colleagues5. Feedback from patients (if you see patients)6. Review of complaints and compliments

General Information(Information about ENTIRE SCOPE of your work)

• Employment (all work)• Probity declaration• Health declaration• Sign off of previous appraisal• PDP plus review

Keeping up to date

• CPD certificate• Summary of CPD for the current year

including reflection on learning• Any statutory or mandatory training

Review of practice

• Quality Improvement activity*• Audit, review, re-audit (once every 5 years)

• Case review or discussion (two per annum)

• Significant events• Or nil declaration

Feedback

• Multi source feedback from colleagues and patients*– At least once in the revalidation cycle– RO decides which tool to use

• Review of Complaints and Compliments• Can also include supervision / training

feedback

Portfolio of evidence

• Electronic portfolio recommended• Your responsibility to keep records for

the entire cycle – including when you move jobs

• RO will decide what system to use

Who is my appraiser?

• Appointed by your RO • Must be properly trained in the new

system of appraisal• May or may not be a doctor• May or may not be public health

RO recommendations

There are three types of recommendations an RO can make:

1.Positive recommendation2.Deferral request3.Notification of non-engagement

Readiness criteria

In order to be ready to have a revalidation recommendation made to the regulator you will have to fulfil the following criteria: •You must be participating in an annual appraisal process which has Good Medical Practice as its focus and which covers all of your professional practice. •You must have completed at least one appraisal, with Good Medical Practice as its focus, which has been signed off by you and your appraiser. •You must have demonstrated, through appraisal, that you have collected and reflected on the six types of required supporting information

Minimum requirements • Evidence of continuing professional development, review of significant events and review

of complaints and compliments must relate to the 12 month period prior to the appraisal that precedes any revalidation recommendation.

• Evidence of regular participation in quality improvement activities that demonstrates the individual reviews and evaluates the quality of their work must be considered at each appraisal. The activity should be relevant to the individual's current scope of practice.

• Evidence of feedback from patients and colleagues must have been undertaken no earlier than five years prior to the first revalidation recommendation and be relevant to the individual’s current scope of practice.

• Feedback from patients and colleagues that does not fully meet the criteria set by the GMC may also be included but must have been: o Focused on the individual, their practice and the quality of care delivered o Gathered in a way that promotes objectivity and maintains confidentiality

• Team-based information may also meet the requirements where no individualised information is available for quality improvement activities, significant events or complaints and compliments - as long as there is evidence of reflection on what this information means for their individual practice.

Dual specialties

• One session per week of GP (on a 'performers list') trumps a further nine sessions in public health

• Appraisal will focus on entire scope of practice – your responsibility to include evidence from all roles

• Talk to your appraiser about your CPD requirements

Academic appraisal

• The current guidance remains unchanged: Follett principles to be followed

• Joint appraisal acceptable• If you hold an honorary contract with

an NHS Trust or health Board, you will revalidate through them

• If not, it will be PHE

Crown Dependencies

• Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man are all due to have organisations granted ‘designated body’ status

Working overseas• If you continue to hold your licence to

practise while practising overseas, you will need to revalidate via connection to a UK organisation.

• However, you may not need a licence to practise if you practise entirely outside of the UK. You may decide it is better to give it up and apply to have your licence restored if you need it at some point in the future. More information about giving up and restoring your licence is available on the GMC website.

FPH role• ‘Specialty specific guidance’

– To Fellows and Members– to ROs and appraisers in other designated

bodies• Vice president is RO for Fellows and

Members with no other ‘prescribed connection’

What to do now

• Continue CPD• Annual appraisals with PDP as output• Gather evidence:

– General information – providing context about what you do in all aspects of your work

– Keeping up to date – maintaining and enhancing the quality of your professional work

– Review of your practice – evaluating the quality of your professional work

– Feedback on your practice – how others perceive the quality of your professional work

What if I can’t be bothered?

Failure to engage

Fitness to practise

Fitness to practise

Issues that will impact on fitness to practise include:•Patient safety concerns•Failure to engage in revalidation•Undermine confidence in the profession•Conduct (including fraud and dishonesty among many other factors)

•Performance •Health

Remediation• Remediation will commence if someone

fails to provide sufficient satisfactory evidence

• A locally driven process with full compliance as the most likely outcome

• Indications of impaired Fitness to Practise in the view of the RO will be referred to the regulator

• FPH will not fund remediation

Further information

• http://www.gmc-uk.org/doctors/revalidation.asp• http://www.publichealthregister.org.uk/revalidation• http://www.revalidationsupport.nhs.uk/• http://www.fph.org.uk/revalidation• revalidation@fph.org.uk