At the appraisal meeting

At the appraisal meeting

Confidentiality statement

At the beginning of the appraisal, appraisers are required to outline some general points about confidentiality at the beginning of the appraisal meetings.  Check out the guidance on confidentiality if you are unsure.

• Remind appraisee on who has access to which appraisal forms after the appraisal.
• Explain what will happen to any notes you may take during the meeting.
• Inform appraisee of the obligation of any doctor registered with the GMC to take action where there are serious concerns that patient safety may be compromised.

It is also helpful to be clear about the aims of appraisal at the start of the meeting, particularly if the doctor is taking part in the process for the first time or if this is a new appraisee for you.

The full Medical Appraisal Guidance Scotland document, which is referenced below, is available from our website.

Aims and objectives of appraisal

Appraisal is a supportive, formative and developmental process.  It is principally an opportunity for reflection and learning of a doctor’s whole/complete practice.  It should be a positive process, providing doctors with feedback and to allow reflection on their past and to plan their future progress.

Appraisal also offers doctors a safe space to discuss confidentially with a trained peer on any sensitive issues that they are struggling with, be it health and wellbeing, workload or any other struggles.

One of the key objectives of medical appraisal is to provide doctors with the opportunity to:

• Reflect on their clinical and non-clinical practice.
• Reflect on the supporting information they have gathered and what that information demonstrates about their practice.
• Reflect on and discuss their health and wellbeing.
• Identify areas where they could make improvements or undertake further development and produce a Personal Development Plan (PDP) for the coming year.
• Demonstrate that they are up to date.

Appraisal is NOT:

• The mechanism by which serious concerns regarding health, capability, behaviour or attitude are addressed.
• A performance management tool or a mechanism by which employers review or judge performance against a contract of employment, job plans or service objectives.
• A discussion about the content of job plans.

Appraisal aims to help doctors to:

• Set out personal and professional development needs, career paths and goals
• Consider their contribution to the quality and improvement of local healthcare services
• Optimise the use of their skills and knowledge in achieving the delivery of high quality care
• Discuss and identify how to seek support for their role as a doctor

Although not its primary purpose, appraisal may assist in the early identification of doctors in potential difficulty and support them in identifying how they can access appropriate support, such as health and wellbeing.

Supporting information

In preparation for their annual appraisals, appraisees must provide supporting information to demonstrate that they are continuing to meet the principles and values set out in Good Medical Practice.  The GMC has produced guidance regarding the supporting information that is required for revalidation which you may find useful for reference (see also guidance for appraisee).

The appraisal process should embody a positive and developmental approach, be fair, effective, professional and well-informed, and where possible indicate how patient care and working within NHS organisations can be improved.

Appraisal should include:

• Reliable information on clinical performance
• Continuing Professional Development
• Relationships with patients and colleagues
• Quality Improvement activities (e.g. Audit)
• Reflection on Significant Events / Critical Incidents
• Concerns raised and clinical complaints
• Teaching and research activities
• Any organisational impact that has arisen

As the appraiser, you should have a good understanding of the work undertaken by your appraisee.  Whilst appraisal is a generic skill, if your appraisee has specialist aspects of performance, it is good practice for you to endeavour to familiarise yourself with the relevant areas.

Remember your training

• Open questions are good for getting information;
• Closed questions are good for checking facts, clarify, summarise;
• Explore and try to stretch your appraisee.

Below are some example topics and questions which you may find useful.

Recognising Professionalism

• What areas of your work have gone well in the last year?  Rewarding?  Satisfying?  Highlights?
• What has contributed to this?  (Your own qualities as well as external factors)
• What gave you most job satisfaction in the last year?
• Which educational or development activity did you find most effective and why?
• Which areas have you particularly enjoyed? (Identify motivating factors)
• Can you give me some examples of successes in your professional life?
• What is your most significant achievement in the last year?
• What do you see as your particular strengths?
• Do you have skills that are not being used?  How can you develop this potential?

Professional Challenge

• What has changed since your last appraisal?
• What areas of your role/s have not gone well or you have found difficult in the last 12 months?  What has contributed to this?  (Internal and external factors)
• Do you have any examples of difficult challenges / decisions?
• What about stressful events?  What are your coping strategies?
• Have you any examples of experiences you have not enjoyed and why?
• What’s your biggest time-waster?
• What self-developmental processes and organisational changes might improve things for you?
• How could you demonstrate (and how would you know) that you are competent in...?
• In relation to last year’s PDP, have you achieved all you set out to do?
• Which of your strengths were best used in the last year?
• What resources do you need to make this coming year an effective one?
• What barriers exist to you achieving your goals?

Career planning

• Describe your current role(s)
• How do you feel your career has developed so far?
• What stage of your career do you feel you are in?
• What changes in your work environment / team might help you be more effective / happier?
• What are your long-term career plans?  And how are you going to achieve these goals?

Self Awareness and Growth

• How do you manage the balance between Professional and Personal life?
• Are you content with your current work/life balance?
• What motivates you?
• How would you describe yourself?
• What do you think your colleagues would say about you?
• How do you get feedback on your work as a doctor?  Has this raised any issues for you or been reassuring?
• How do you identify areas of your practise you need to develop?
• How do you learn?  Do you have a favourite learning method?

Additional meetings

It might be that more than one meeting is required (appraisee didn’t have all of the supporting information available / illness / urgent patient, etc).  We leave this to your discretion.

To log the additional meeting details on SOAR, do NOT create a new appraisal.  Simply go to the existing appraisal meeting details and add new meeting date(s)/time(s).

Remember, appraisal is designed to be a supportive and developmental process.  It is not a pass / fail exercise.

This page was last updated on: 12/05/2026