Appraisal for senior medical staff

From 1 April 2011 the Trust started using an evolving process of new medical appraisal| which will be delivered by a recently trained colleague. New medical appraisal has been developed by the Department of Health and the General Medical Council to produce a consistent tool that will be the cornerstone of the revalidation process.

The Trust is implementing the new medical appraisal from April 2011, to be ready for revalidation when it arrives in the second half of 2012. Many components of the appraisal will alter and be formalised. The major changes are described below.

Revalidation of an individual doctor is a recommendation made by the responsible officer for UHS to the GMC and will be based significantly on the cycle of five appraisals. The responsible officer for UHS is our medical director, Michael Marsh.

The new appraisal process will have an assessment component to it as well as the current developmental and statutory components. Appraisal will take place annually and five appraisals will make up a revalidation cycle. Appraisal remains separate from job planning. 

New medical appraisal reviews your performance in four areas.  These are known as domains and cover: 

• knowledge, skills and performance
• safety and quality
• communication, partnership and teamwork
• maintaining trust. 

Furthermore each domain is broken down into three attributes of Good Medical Practice (GMP), and these twelve attributes cover all the areas of GMP. Download a copy of the Good Medical Practice Framework|. 

The concept is that you work continuously over time to produce a portfolio with evidence in all areas to allow the Responsible Officer for the Trust to make a recommendation of revalidation at the end of the period.

Trust involvement

The Trust is currently training approximately 90 appraisers to a consistent level so that a reliable and uniform appraisal can take place for all consultants and SAS doctors. Training describes the enhanced appraisal process, concentrating on a review of supporting information and aspects of the appraisal discussion. The trained appraisers will be the only people able to undertake an approved appraisal.

For each care group there is an appraisal lead|. In some care groups this individual will allocate an appraiser to all individuals. The appraisal lead will inform the Trust when appraisals are completed and who the appraiser is.

Individual appraisals

Supporting information| (SI) will need to be gathered throughout the year, and presented in advance to your appraiser. This supporting information will be assessed on whether it is sufficient to demonstrate good practice or not, or indeed whether it raises cause for concern in practice. A copy of the GMC supporting information document| is available describing the different types of SI covering a variety of aspects of your work.

A formal appraisal meeting will take place. Allow two hours for this meeting. 

Appraisal discussion will cover issues raised in the supporting information previously provided and current activity in all the work you do as a doctor both within and outside UHS, paid and voluntary. The discussion should lead to a Personal Development Plan to guide your future development.

After appraisal, a copy of Form 4| (a written summary of the appraisal discussion and development plan) is passed to the care group lead. The appraisal lead for the care group also has the responsibility for informing the Trust appraisal administrator that the appraisal has been completed.

For a useful and easy to follow guide, see How medical appraisal should work|. Look at this first to avoid unnecessary time delay.

360 degree feedback

The Trust also offers a 360 feedback form of appraisal. This is a way of collecting and presenting feedback on an individual's behaviours and performance from people who they work with. You must have a 360 appraisal at least once in every five year revalidation cycle.  For more information and to access the system, see staffnet (the Trust's intranet).

Contacts

John Stubbing| is the UHS clinical lead for medical appraisals.

Gillian McKay| is the UHS consultant appraisal coordinator.