Report comment

The time, effort and cost of revalidation will be stupendous. Much of the resources expended will, however, be hidden and not easily quantifiable. So there is no answer to the question: 'what will it really cost?' There is NO evidence that it is either required, nor that it will work. Everyone has just assumed it is a 'good thing' and that it will work. As Alastair writes, the standard of UK doctors is generally good. Where is the evidence that UK doctors are worse than anywhere else? So what is the 'problem' that revalidation is supposed to solve? It will NOT, of itself, catch another Harold Shipman. This is because so much has changed since Shipman was caught and since the Bristol enquiry. So what 'extras' will revalidation bring? Would suggest precious few. It would be better, cheaper and far easier to boost or reinforce what we have now, not reinvent the wheel. Revalidation will NOT stop another Mid Staffs or Maidstone: these were almost entirely failures of executive management chasing central targets or 'Foundation status'. In fact, revalidation is highly likely to muzzle exactly the independent Drs the system NEEDS to blow the whistle. In any system, it is important to have checks and balances that prevent a particular perverse incentive from running out of control. There is, at present, absolutely no balance whatsoever limiting the exponential expansion of the apparatus and bodies that could climb on the bandwagon of revalidation. No limit on what some vocal jobsworth could demand as part of the process. There are powerful forces at work to generate any number of non-jobs employing box-tickers, seen as 'essential', to administer the process. Look at what we have seen w.r.t. 'mandatory training'. A joke. Illogical, unnecessary CRB checks. The oppressive, hysterical 'Data Protection' rules. [Had to register as a data processor, which just meant paying £35 per annum to do what have always done anyway].
Here's the rub: it is government or 'the system' that wants to do this to doctors. Why should we have to pay for it? And we will, as the GMC will be forced to exponentially raise our subs. If society wants this [in my opinion insane mess], then let the taxpayer pick up the bill.

PS: British graduates are avoiding medicine like the plague. Within the last few weeks, know of 3 young 'best-of-the-best' surgical consultants who have left the UK for good. One to Canada, one to New Zealand, and one to the US. Carry on folks, carry on......