GP Appraisal and Revalidation

 

GP Appraisal and Revalidation

This page is for information only and contains links to various documents and areas which we are sure you will find useful. If you have a query which is not covered here, please don't contact the School of Primary Care as they don't deal with GP appraisals.  You should contact the appraisal team whose contact details are given further down this page.  Please note that the NHSE NE and Cumbria appraisal website now hosts all the relevant information on appraisal and revalidation in the NE and can be found here.

Revalidation

Revalidation is the means by which all GPs must demonstrate on a 5 yearly basis that they remain up to date and fit to practice.  Revalidation depends on satisfactory engagement in annual appraisal, and a sign off from the designated body with whom the GP has a 'prescribed connection' as defined by the GMC that there are no unresolved performance concerns.

All GPs in England have a prescribed connection to NHS England, which has responsibility for appraisal and revalidation of GPs. Any doctor who wishes to work as a GP in any capacity whether as a practice - based GP or as a locum or in remote consulting or telephone triage will have NHSE as their designated body, even if most of their work in non-GP roles. Appraisal is administered locally by NHS England, North Cumbria and North East. In this region there are currently 2500 GPs (including postgraduate doctors in training), One Responsible Officer (RO), one Medical Director/Deputy RO and one Clinical Appraisal Lead.  The Current team is as follows:

Responsible Officer - NHS England North East and Cumbria - Dr Jonathan Slade

Deputy Responsible Officer - Dr James Gossow

Clinical Lead - NHS England Cumbria and North East - Dr Di Jelley

Your Revalidation date is fixed by the GMC and can be found by looking at your GMC account on line. In the 12 month period before this date your appraisal documentation will be reviewed by the RO/Deputy RO. You will be recommended for revalidation by the GMC  if you have engaged in annual appraisal, and submitted an approved patient and colleague feedback tool at least once in the 5 years prior to your revalidation), and if you have no unresolved performance concerns. 

If there are any concerns about your engagement in the appraisal process, or if you are missing any documentation, someone from the NHS England (Cumbria and North East) team will contact you for further information.  If your last appraisal prior to your revalidation is not fully 'revalidation ready', and you have been asked to submit additional information, please make sure you that is sent to NHSE at least a month in advance by emailing england.neymedicalappraisal@nhs.net

Appraisal

All doctors in the UK are required to have an appraisal each year-for GPs this is one of the conditions GPs must fulfill in order to stay on the National Performers List (NPL).

GP Appraisal is administered using the Revalidation Management System (RMS). https://rms.england.nhs.uk/Account/Login  This allows you to log on and view your appraisal documentation at any time and provides NHSE with a means to support and monitor the engagement of every GP in the appraisal process and to facilitate their appraisal every 5 years. You should have been sent personal log in details for the RMS system when you joined the NPL after qualifying as a GP..  If you haven't received these, then contact the NHSE admin team via email at england.neymedicalappraisal@nhs.net To access RMS click here.

Your appraisal should take place in your birthday month. 

If there is good reason why you cannot have your appraisal in your birthday month, e.g. maternity leave, sick leave or sabbatical then please contact NHSE using the postponement form which can be obtained from england.neymedicalappraisal@nhs.net 

Your appraiser will be allocated to you via a random process linked to RMS that takes into account any known conflicts of interest.  You will be allocated to an appraiser who should offer you the option of a face to face appraisal. You and your appraiser may well agree to carry out your appraisal remotely using a video tool such as Teams, Zoom or SKYPE. But if you wish to have face to face appraisal and your appraiser cannot offer this due to travelling distance, the appraisal team will alloctae you an appraier who lives near or who is able to travel to you. 

Once you and your appraiser have agreed a date for your appraisal, either you or the appraiser must enter your chosen date onto RMS.  If this is not done, you will continue to receive reminder emails to book your appraisal from RMS every month.

Further information on appraisal for both Trainers and ST3 postgraduate doctors in training

Appraisal Documentation

We recommend that all newly qualified GPs use Fourteen Fish to submit their documentation for appraisal, as this is closely linked to your trainee e-portfolio.

Supporting information for annual appraisal

When appraisal was re-started in October 2020 after the first wave of the Covid pandemic, the process was re-focused with a primary focus of health and well-being, plus achievements, challenges and aspirations. A new simplified medical appraisal template was introduced, which has been incorporated in the on-line appraisal toolkits. There was a significant reduction in preparation time and no requirement to include additional written supporting information except for MSF/PSQ. This revised process has been very well received by doctors and appraiser and will be continued from 2022 going forward.

The core supporting information requirements are as follows, and will be delivered by completing the pre-appraisal forms in the appraisal toolkit:

  • Scope of work and any changes that have occured since your last appraisal, and any planned changes for the next year - doctors with multiple roles will need to discuss these roles and how their work in them is reviewed and kept up to date, with their appraiser. You will need to record all your places of work since your last appraisal (not every practice for locums but anywhere you have worked for a few weeks or more), but there remains no need for written sign offs for these additional roles.
  • Review of your PDP - what aims have been achieved and for those not completed, whether they are to be brought forward - if not then explain why.
  • Your achievements, challenges and aspirations, personally and professionally, over the period since your last appraisal.
  • Reflections on your personal and professional well-being - you will be asked to consider how you have been affected by the period since your last appraisal, including your current 'well-being score' and what you have done to maintain your health and well-being.
  • CPD, QIA and patient and colleague feedback - this invites you to reflect on what you have done to keep up to date across your whole scope of work. You will also be asked to describe what has been your most significant learning in terms of your CPD and any other activities such as significant events, challenging cases, any QI activities and any formal or informal feedback from both patients and colleagues etc. What actions you have taken, or changes you have made, in response to these reflections and how effective have these changes been will also be discussed. 
  • Any complaints or serious untoward incidents since your last appraisal should be listed and briefly described in outline, with no patient identifiable data.
  • Any possible PDP aims for the next year should be listed.
  • GPs working fewer than 40 sessions a year, should complete the section in Fourteen Fish on low volume work, and be ready to discuss all the questions on this template, at the appraisal meeting.

Please note - if you have any questions or problems with appraisal or the online system, please do not contact the School of Primary Care as they do not deal with GP appraisal. You will need to contact the dedicated appraisal team via england.neymedicalappraisal@nhs.net email or telephone 0113 824 7242.