• Douglas J Murphy, Bruce Guthrie, Frank M Sullivan, Stewart W Mercer, Andrew Russell, and David A Bruce.
• Quality, Safety and Informatics Research Group, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK. d.y.murphy@dundee.ac.uk
• BMJ Qual Saf. 2012 Aug 1;21(8):649-56.

BackgroundMedical revalidation decisions need to be reliable if they are to reassure on the quality and safety of professional practice. This study tested an innovative method in which general practitioners (GPs) were assessed on their reflection and response to a set of externally specified feedback.Setting And Participants60 GPs and 12 GP appraisers in the Tayside region of Scotland, UK.MethodsA feedback dataset was specified as (1) GP-specific data collected by GPs themselves (patient and colleague opinion; open book self-evaluated knowledge test; complaints) and (2) Externally collected practice-level data provided to GPs (clinical quality and prescribing safety). GPs' perceptions of whether the feedback covered UK General Medical Council specified attributes of a 'good doctor' were examined using a mapping exercise. GPs' professionalism was examined in terms of appraiser assessment of GPs' level of insightful practice, defined as: engagement with, insight into and appropriate action on feedback data. The reliability of assessment of insightful practice and subsequent recommendations on GPs' revalidation by face-to-face and anonymous assessors were investigated using Generalisability G-theory.Main Outcome MeasuresCoverage of General Medical Council attributes by specified feedback and reliability of assessor recommendations on doctors' suitability for revalidation.ResultsFace-to-face assessment proved unreliable. Anonymous global assessment by three appraisers of insightful practice was highly reliable (G=0.85), as were revalidation decisions using four anonymous assessors (G=0.83).ConclusionsUnlike face-to-face appraisal, anonymous assessment of insightful practice offers a valid and reliable method to decide GP revalidation. Further validity studies are needed.

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