Revalidation has been talked about for almost a decade now but without clarity as to what it may or may not be. This is not surprising as the United Kingdom will be the first country in the world to have such a robust professional regulation in place. It has certainly occupied much of my time over the last 18 months as Vice President Standards.
Medical revalidation will consist of two components: relicensure and recertification. The GMC is proposing to issue licences to all doctors on the medical register by autumn 2009. The recertification component will be introduced piece meal. However, it is accepted that recertification will be based on three components: annual enhanced appraisal; multi-source feedback (peers and patients); and confirmation that the doctor has met the requirements of their CPD programme. The responsibility for the first two components will of course rest with the employer /Responsible Officer, and the CPD requirements will fall within the remit of the Royal Colleges/Faculties.
This College has played a full part in national discussions with the General Medical Council, Department of Health and the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges to promote a simple and robust system and to keep bureaucracy to a minimum. We believe our voice has been heard as the RCOG Revalidation Model is being held up as a good example and recently I was invited by the CMO to present it to the UK Revalidation Programme Board, as well as at the recent NHS Revalidation Support Team Conference.
I also had the opportunity to present the RCOG model at several recent national and international conferences and I was reassured by the positive feedback. The most frequent comments related to the simplicity of the model and acceptance that it is deliverable. Of course, there remain anxieties about the availability of accurate and meaningful data but it is accepted that we have to start somewhere and the themes arising out of implementation will be built into future arrangements. This is accepted by the GMC and they have confirmed that revalidation will not be one “big bang” event, rather something that will be introduced gradually. The GMC will write to every doctor on their register about the arrangements.
The RCOG Revalidation Model was developed by the Working Party on Revalidation and we are delighted to enclose a copy of the Working Party report with this newsletter. It is highly recommended reading for all obstetricians and gynaecologists and those with responsibility for revalidation.
In many ways this is a beginning of a long journey and much work needs to be done to fine tune the model(s) adopted by the GMC/DH. To enable the College to be in a prepared state for future developments, Council has approved the establishment of the Recertification Committee, under the chairmanship of Mr Mahmood Shafi. It will ensure that our process remains fit for purpose and the views of our members influence the future direction. So please forward your comments and ideas to me and/or Mr Shafi as these will inform the work of the Recertification Committee.
All comments via Valeria Ferrante, Professional Standards Lead. Email: vferrante@rcog.org.uk. Tel: 020 7772 6307
Dr Tahir Mahmood
Vice President Standards