Background to revalidation
Recertification Committee
RCR revalidation portfolio pilot
Specialty standards and supporting information for revalidation
Tools for revalidation
Links
Contact
Background to revalidation and recertification
The White Paper, Trust, assurance and safety - The regulation of health professionals in the 21st century, was published by the Department of Health in February 2007. This document outlined proposals to introduce a system of revalidation for medical professionals. Revalidation is the process whereby doctors are required to demonstrate, on a regular basis, that they are up to date and fit to practise medicine. Trust, Assurance and Safety divided revalidation into two components – relicensing and specialist recertification.
According to the recent General Medical Council (GMC) revalidation consultation document: Revalidation: the way ahead this has now been simplified into a single system of revalidation with a single set of processes and one clear outcome. Revalidation will be based on a continuing evaluation of doctors’ performance in the workplace through a system of ‘strengthened appraisal’ which will include an evaluation of the doctor’s performance against national generic and specialty standards. The local Responsible Officer will then make a revalidation recommendation to the GMC drawing on the outcome of the doctor’s annual appraisals over the course of five years, combined with information from the organisation’s clinical governance system.
The GMC issued all doctors with a licence to practise starting in November 2009 as the first step towards revalidation.
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Recertification Committee
The College established the Recertification Committee in May 2007 to serve as an overarching group for both Faculties to define, and ensure the College is following, the RCR's aims and objectives for revalidation. It will also co-ordinate consultations with Fellows, members and patients on all relevant policies and decisions and publish regular updates via the RCR's newsletter and e-bulletin. The full Terms of Reference for the Committee can be found here.
The membership of the Committee includes all Officers, the CPD Leads for each Faculty and the Chairs of the College's two Patients' Liaison Groups. The Committee is chaired by Dr Jane Adam, member of Council.
Each Faculty has also set up a Working Group to develop specialty specific standards and tools for recertification. The Working Groups report to the Recertification Committee.
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RCR revalidation portfolio pilot
The RCR carried out a revalidation portfolio pilot study in 2008 with the aim of assessing the feasibility of a portfolio approach to revalidation. The portfolio consisted of four categories and participants had to submit evidence in each category. The categories were:
1. Multi source feedback with both generic and specialty specific questions
2. Evidence of attendance at discrepancy/morbidity and mortality meetings
3. Evidence relevant to the individual's performance
4. Continuing professional development (CPD).
The principle behind the portfolio of evidence is that, with all the elements taken together, it should allow individuals to demonstrate that they are practising to a satisfactory level, in a way that is fair and equitable across and within specialties, whilst also encouraging further improvement in practice.
The results of the pilot proved that the portfolio approach to revalidation was both feasible and a practical way of helping doctors collate the appropriate evidence to achieve revalidation.
Specialty standards and supporting information for revalidation
The RCR has produced Specialty standards and supporting information for revalidation for clinical oncologists and clinical radiologists. This was approved by the GMC in January 2010. The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges is currently undertaking a review of the specialty frameworks with the aim of streamlining and simplifying them.
The RCR is developing a series of Faculty-specific tools which Fellows and members can use to collect the supporting information required for revalidation and, more generally, to improve professional practice.
Clinical oncology revalidation tools I Clinical radiology revalidation tools I Generic revalidation tools
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Links
Further information on revalidation can be found on the following websites:
• Department of Health Medical Revalidation
• Academy of Medical Royal Colleges' Revalidation
• General Medical Council's Revalidation
• General Medical Council's FAQs on Revalidation
• Revalidation Support Team
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Contact
If you have any queries or comments on any aspect of revalidation, please email revalidation
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