What are the concerns of prospective responsible officers about their role in medical revalidation?

INTRODUCTION

The Health and Social Care Act 2008 sets out the requirement for the introduction of responsible officers for the NHS. The paper states that these individuals will be responsible for ensuring that doctors who are revalidated meet the required standards. It is not known how well prepared prospective responsible officers are for their new role.

METHODS

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 medical directors from Scottish health boards who agreed to participate.

RESULTS

Prospective responsible officers remain uncertain about their role in medical revalidation. Specific concerns were raised: (1) What will responsible officers be responsible for? (2) How can appraisal be quality assured? (3) How will the information requirements for revalidation be met? and (4) How can organizations meet the requirement for revalidation?

CONCLUSION

We found important issues regarding the arrangements for revalidation which have not previously been described which may impact on the effectiveness of prospective responsible officers.