Southside
105 Victoria Street
London SW1E 6QT
0207 932 3100
23rd August 2013
Dear Colleague,
This letter is to help explain how the changes in the NHS from April 1st could affect you and to provide you with details of where you can find additional information and help.
The Health and Social Care Act has led to the end of PCTs and the Cluster arrangements and to the formation of NHS England with Local Area Teams. In addition, the Performers lists are now a National Performers List for the whole of England. NHS England is one organisation, so local policies are now being replaced by a single national appraisal policy. Revalidation was introduced in December 2012.
What does this mean for me?
London is divided into three Area Teams:
North West Area Team - Responsible officer is Dr David Finch
North East Area Team – Responsible Officer is Dr Henrietta Hughes
South Area Team – Responsible Officer is Dr Jane Fryer
The Responsible Officer has a statutory duty with regards to Revalidation, and also leads the team responsible for Performers list entry and individual practitioner performance.
If you move from one part of England to another you do not need to make a new application to join the Performer’s List, but you will be allocated to a new Area Team depending on where you work or live (unless your move is actually within an Area Team).
When you join an Area Team a new connection is made for you with the GMC, you will be allocated an appraiser and your Revalidation recommendation will be made by your Area Responsible Officer. The existing Revalidation date set by the GMC will not change.
Will I be paid for having my appraisal?
The National Policy for making payments for appraisals is as follows:
GP Practices receive an allocation as part of the Global Sum to support appraisal for Principals and salaried GPs.
Practices are requested to support locum GPs to collect evidence for their appraisal.
Locum GPs who were previously paid by their PCT for completion of their appraisal will no longer receive this payment from NHS England as determined nationally.
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NHS England will continue to fund the appraisal for all doctors on the Medical Performers List.
How will my appraiser be allocated?
The appraiser structure currently relates to the CCG area and will be based upon the normal place of work for GPs based in practices and upon the GMC registered address for locum GPs. Appraisals have now been allocated and we would be grateful if all appraisees could contact their appraiser as soon as possible to arrange a date for their appraisal, with the aim of completing all appraisals by 28/2/14. This is to manage the scheduling of appraisals. The RO is allowed discretion to minimise the number of doctors who are allocated March as their appraisal month.
What if I am on Maternity or sick leave or on Sabbatical?
It is possible to be exempted from appraisal if you are out of practice for more than 6 months, provided the criteria are met. This should be agreed with your appraisal lead in advance of your appraisal date.
What recording systems can I use for my appraisal?
NHS England has commissioned the Clarity toolkit for all GPs in London. Transitional arrangements exist in the Area Teams for using alternative systems – please check with your appraisal lead before uploading information onto a different system. Paper documents can be submitted for review by your appraiser but final sign off will need to be electronically.
What about my Revalidation recommendation?
You will have received a formal notification of your Revalidation date from the GMC. Four months prior to this date you receive a second notification from the GMC informing you that you are ‘under notice’. From this date onwards a recommendation can be made by your RO. The process is as follows:
- GMC Connect – the portal which the RO uses to make your recommendation now shows your details as being ‘under notice’.
- Your portfolio is reviewed to determine whether you have submitted evidence with reflection to meet the requirements of the GMC.
This is part of the strengthened appraisal process and this is why it is important to use an appropriate toolkit to record your appraisal. Remember, the appraisal is about your whole practice,so if you do lots of different roles you will need to gather evidence in each of these (e.g. Trainer, out of hours, Clinical Assistant, appraiser) including in your colleague feedback and reflect on all of the evidence you submit.
Should you wish to present evidence for revalidation from previous appraisal years eg patient and colleague feedback, this evidence should be added to your portfolio so that it can be accessed by your appraiser and the RO.
If you do not sign off the portfolio, it is not visible to your RO.
Your RO is under a statutory obligation to make a recommendation based upon the evidence available including Performance information (e.g. current investigation by NHS England, GMC or other statutory body).
If all the information required, with reflection, and no adverse individual performance information is present a POSITIVE recommendation for Revalidation is made.
If any information is missing at this stage a DEFERRAL recommendation is made. This has no negative connotations and is a method of giving you more time to prepare your portfolio of evidence. NHS England will give you specific feedback regarding the information missing to allow you to complete the evidence within the timeframe before you become ‘under notice’ again.
Recommendations cannot be made for GPs currently under GMC investigation.
Frequently asked Questions
If I have signed off my 12/13 appraisal but now want to add a patient or colleague survey how do I do this?
- Check that your appraiser is available to review this evidence.
- Request unsign off on Clarity toolkit – this can be done by the appraisal administrator or Clarity via their helpline.
- Submit your new evidence
- Inform your appraiser so they can review the evidence and re-sign off your appraisal
- Ensure that step 4 is at least 3 months prior to your Revalidation date.
If you add the new evidence to your 13/14 portfolio your RO cannotsee this information until it has been signed off by your appraiser after your meeting.
My appraiser has disagreed with one of the statements to the RO, what happens next?
Your appraiser should contact the appraisal lead/RO, who will make an assessment re the next steps.
This does not automatically mean that there will be a problem with your revalidation
I wish to defer my revalidation date because I will be taking maternity leave or a sabbatical. What should I do to arrange this?
You do not need to do anything. If the information needed to make a positive decision has been presented you can be recommended for Revalidation while on maternity leave/sabbatical. If there is missing information you will be deferred automatically.
I have received a deferral recommendation and I am really worried about it
Deferral is usually an administrative process to give you more time to complete your portfolio. Occasionally it may be used when the RO is awaiting the outcome of an ongoing local HR or disciplinary process.
It is important that your next appraisal contains a reference to all the evidence needed for Revalidation and the year that you submitted it so that the RO can see that you are now ready for a positive recommendation. If in any doubt, discuss with your appraiser or appraisal lead.
If you have any other questions or are unsure please first contact your appraiser who will help you to get the information that you need.
You may also find the following websites helpful:
GMC:
LMC:
London Deanery Podcasts:
Yours sincerely,
Dr Jane Fryer
Dr David Finch
Dr Henrietta Hughes
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