DR NIALL CAMERON, NATIONAL APPRAISAL ADVISER
OVERVIEW of Medical Appraisal in Scotland
The feedback we receive continues to be overwhelmingly positive and I would like to thank all the administration team and the tutors involved for their support in ensuring the success of the training.
In Scotland the aim has been to provide clarity by adopting a national approach to medical appraisal which reflected the GMC guidance regardless of individual speciality. I am sure the unified cross-speciality approach taken in Scotland has paid dividends and as a result, there are several productive innovations including multidisciplinary training embedded in the Scottish processes. It is recognised that the provision of IT support through SOAR and a single MSF process supported by SOAR has eased the burden for doctors in Scotland compared to their colleagues in other parts of the UK.
Having completed the first cycle of revalidation it is timely to review the process and to reflect on the role of appraisal. NES is a partner in the UMbRELLA evaluation of the impact of revalidation, and a number of colleagues in Scotland were able to meet with and contribute to the review of revalidation undertaken by Sir Keith Pearson on behalf of the GMC. Taking revalidation forward: Improving the process of relicensing for doctors (pdf).
Some of the findings will not surprise colleagues involved in appraisal, but it has been identified that there is a need to streamline the requirements for revalidation where possible and that there is a need to ensure that the supporting information requirements are equitable and suitable for all groups. Appraisal should support doctors to stay in practice, and help them to deliver good practice by acting as a tool to facilitate personal and professional development, and evidence that the profession is feeling under increasing pressure highlights the potential of appraisal.
We have continued to provide a programme of both new appraiser courses, and refresher courses for experienced appraisers, and have had a very busy year! We continue to develop the training in light of the feedback received, and we have established a training course review group to take this forward.
The feedback we receive continues to be overwhelmingly positive and I would like to thank all the administration team and the tutors involved for their support in ensuring the success of the training.
For some time we have been in discussions with dental colleagues in the NHS boards about piloting a dental appraiser training programme. This request arose from awareness that NES had developed an effective training programme and that our dental colleagues could see the advantages of adopting a similar approach.
This finally came to fruition in the last year and we have supported the delivery of a number of training courses for dental appraisers. These have been very well received, demonstrated an enthusiasm for appraisal and illustrated that the challenges our dental colleagues face are very familiar.
We have had the opportunity to expand the central appraisal team in the last year with the addition of new administrators Elaine McKendry and Stacey Lucas (Nov 2016) to join Joyce McCrae. Their collective support during a rather frenetic year has been invaluable.
© NHS Education for Scotland 2017. You can copy or reproduce the information in this document for use within NHSScotland and for non-commercial educational purposes. Use of this document for commercial purposes is permitted only with the written permission of NES.