Who are the key players in revalidation?
Doctors often assume the General Medical Council (GMC) is the sole body responsible for revalidation. However, a number of organisations have been cooperating for years to introduce the system, with responsibility for different areas.
The GMC is responsible for:
- Providing guidance on the professional values and principles (based on Good Medical Practice) that doctors need to show they are meeting in their annual appraisal
- Agreeing the supporting information that every doctor needs to bring to appraisal to show they are meeting those professional values
- Developing the secondary legislation that will underpin the process (the Licence to Practise and Revalidation regulations)
- Providing the mechanism that will enable responsible officers to make recommendations to the GMC, and providing guidance on the criteria for making those recommendations
- Overseeing the delivery of revalidation at a UK level.
The Department of Health is responsible for:
- Deciding whether and when to commence the legislation that will enable revalidation to begin. This is the responsibility of the health secretary.
- Ensuring revalidation is affordable, cost effective and right for doctors, patients and the health sector
- Funding and assuring the work of the NHS Revalidation Support Team
- Responsible officer regulations and guidance in England.
The National Revalidation Delivery Boards (one in each nation) are responsible for:
- Overseeing the changes to relevant legislation and regulations
- Ensuring there are local systems required to support the introduction of revalidation.
The NHS Revalidation Support Team is responsible for:
- Supporting designated bodies and responsible officers in England in preparing for revalidation with training, guidance and tools
- Providing support networks for responsible officers
- Producing clear and effective guidance for medical appraisal in England
- Providing evidence of the costs, benefits and practicalities of implementation, to ensure that revalidation supports high quality care and is cost-effective and efficient.
NHS Employers is responsible for:
- Obtaining and acting on local feedback about the preparation and roll-out process
- Encouraging joint working of responsible officers with senior managers and the wider HR team to provide the necessary local support for successful revalidation
- Providing up-to-date implementation advice, as required, to employers in the NHS, the GMC, the DH and other partners.
The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges is responsible for:
- Facilitating the work of the medical royal colleges and faculties, in particular the development of specialty-specific guidance on supporting information
- Helping medical royal colleges and faculties to deliver consistent training and advice on standards of practice in respect of each specialty.
The UKRPB (UK Revalidation Programme Board) oversees implementation of revalidation at a high level and is accountable to the GMC council. The BMA has a seat on this board. The UK Revalidation Delivery Group is responsible for more day-to-day implementation and reports to the UKRPB.