We have continued to provide an extensive programme of new training courses and refresher courses all over Scotland. Although demanding in terms of time and resources, it has been interesting to see how attitudes to appraisal have shifted in the last few years. There seems to be a clear recognition that the profession needs to take ownership of the process and also an appreciation of how influential the appraisal process can be in all aspects of a doctor’s professional life. The feedback we have received from these courses has been very favourable; and I think reflects the input from out tutor panel and the effectiveness of the administrative support from the central team.

SOAR has been extensively updated and the new improved version was launched recently. In undertaking this redesign we have been guided by feedback received from all users and hopefully the new site will address many of the issues raised. We hope the changes made are not too radical or confusing and certainly initial feedback has been that the site is now more intuitive to use and less idiosyncratic. We are continuing to develop SOAR and will be launching new CPD pages soon which will include an electronic CPD log. These changes are designed to make the process of recording learning and managing supporting information about CPD far easier.

The NES medical appraisal team has a track record in undertaking and publishing research on the appraisal process, and building on this NES has been invited to contribute to a UK-wide GMC funded research project to evaluate the impact of medical revalidation.

Involvement in this important project will enable us to contribute to shaping future UK policy and practice, to learn from good practice, and to review and improve the delivery of Appraisal and Revalidation in Scotland.

The study will look at the long term impact of revalidation, and focus on four areas:

The information doctors collect to support their appraisal

The doctor’s appraisal discussion

It will seek to take into account the views of all those involved in the revalidation process and get input from all stakeholders. This will include not only doctors and their colleagues but their employers, Responsible Officers, and patients and members of the general public.  Public and patient involvement and an approach which recognises the diverse nature of the medical workforce are central to the proposed research.

In Scotland, as well as recruiting direct participants for the research as described below, we will be seeking to keep all stakeholders involved and interested in the revalidation process updated, and provide you with opportunities to inform the work as it progresses.

The initial survey will ask doctors about their job roles, and about their experiences of appraisal, collecting supporting information about their practice and their views on revalidation more generally. There are additional questions for appraisers. The survey will also allow participants to volunteer to take part in more in-depth research activities such as interviews about their experiences of appraisal and revalidation.

Interim reports and key findings will be shared with interested parties throughout the project, with the final report hopefully ready for publication in early 2018.

This research is particularly timely as we are now in the last year of the first cycle of revalidation. I am certain all doctors in Scotland have benefited from having the support of an effective appraisal process in helping them to meet the GMC requirement. Whilst this is a key purpose of appraisal, we will continue to emphasise the equally important role of appraisal in supporting doctors in all aspects of their professional life and development.

I am certain all doctors in Scotland have benefited from having the support of an effective appraisal process in helping them to meet the GMC requirement."

Finally I would like to thank Ian Staples for his contribution to the work of the appraisal team over the last few years. Ian has managed the many diverse challenges involved in ensuring appraisal in Scotland was ‘revalidation ready’ extremely effectively and has helped NES and the appraisal team to establish strong links with all stakeholders in Scotland. Ian has been a very valued colleague and I will greatly miss working with him.  I am sure all involved with appraisal would like to wish him success as he moves on to new challenges.