Most doctors in England are now linked to NHS organisations that are on track to support them with revalidation from the end of this year, according to a report published today by the NHS Revalidation Support Team (RST).
Organisational Readiness Self-Assessment Report 2011-12 shows the state of organisational readiness for medical revalidation in England.
It shows that 82% of doctors covered by the survey are linked to organisations that are ready to support them with revalidation in England. A similar level of readiness in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is expected to be announced soon.
The General Medical Council (GMC) plans to introduce revalidation in early December in stages, subject to final approval by health secretary Andrew Lansley.
The RST’s report is based on responses from organisations that employ or contract with doctors (designated bodies) as defined in The Medical Profession (Responsible Officers) Regulations 2010.
This is the second time the annual self-assessment has been conducted and this year, 654 designated bodies (NHS and other healthcare organisations) completed the Organisational Readiness Self-Assessment (ORSA) survey, with a 100% response from NHS organisations.
Substantial progress has been made over the last year, with improvements in all measured key indicators.
The report findings shows that almost 100% of doctors covered by this exercise now have a responsible officer and almost 98% of doctors have a responsible officer who has received appropriate training.
The vast majority (85%) of doctors are now covered by designated bodies with an appraisal policy that is compliant with the requirements of revalidation.
86% of doctors are also now covered by designated bodies with sufficient numbers of trained medical appraisers.
The GMC welcomed the report, which will be used by the health secretary to assess whether the UK is ready to introduce revalidation from the end of this year.
GMC chief executive Niall Dickson said: “This is good news and reflects a great deal of hard work to prepare for medical revalidation. It shows that organisations in England will be able to support doctors with their revalidation from the end of this year.
“It is another significant milestone and we expect to see similar reports from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland over the next month which will give patients and all those involved the confidence that revalidation can get underway.”
Dr Anita Donley, medical director at the RST, said: “Every designated body was asked to produce an action plan by the end of July to ensure their systems would be ready by December this year, when revalidation is due to commence.
“At the RST we are working closely with the SHA clusters to support and assure this process and are confident that the healthcare sector will rise to this challenge. However, it is worth remembering that most licensed doctors will not begin this process until April 2013.”