Being good

Appraisal

Although the annual appraisal for GP registrars may seem like another burden, you should already be collecting most of the information you will need as part of your training.

Appraisals continue annually throughout your career, and completing an appraisal this year allows you to develop a personal career development plan.

Reflect regularly on your standards of medical practice in accordance with GMC guidance on licensing and revalidation

The appraisal consists of five forms:

Form 1 – personal details
Form 2 – current medical activities
Form 3 – information for the appraisal, based around the headings of Good Medical Practice (this form will take the most time to complete). As mentioned, though, you will probably have already collected most of the information you need. 

• Good clinical care, eg, audits, out-of-hours log.
• Maintaining good medical practice, eg, reflective diaries, course certificates (day release, CPR, Advanced Life Support), personal development plan.
• Teaching, training, appraising, assessing – not likely to be much at this stage in your career, but might include any presentations you have done, perhaps for your summative assessment or audit.
• Relationships with patients, eg, thank you letters, complaints, patient surveys.
• Working with colleagues, eg, feedback from practice team and others.
• Probity, eg, gifts received.
• Health.

Form 4, the formal summary of the appraisal, and Form 5, the optional, confidential record of the appraisal discussion, are completed during and after the appraisal.

Good Medical Practice specifies that “you must maintain a folder of information and evidence, drawn from your medical practice” and “reflect regularly on your standards of medical practice in accordance with GMC guidance on licensing and revalidation”.

Performers List

You must let your local commissioning body know in writing, within seven days, if you are convicted of a criminal offence

GP registrars have to apply to join the medical performers list of the local commissioning body before starting training. If your training is arranged late, and your application has not yet been approved, you can work for two months to allow the paperwork to go through. However, you must have applied before the training started, otherwise this grace period is not allowed. See the GMC’s section on Registration for Doctors for further information.

At the end of your training, you must show your commissioning body your JCPTGP vocational training certificate as soon as you get it. If you want to stay in the area, tell your commissioning body and you can stay on as a fully-fledged GP. If you get a job somewhere else, it will probably be best to apply to leave your training commissioning body list and join the list of your new commissioning body. Let both know what you are doing and they should be able to sort it out between them (but check that they have).

You must let your local commissioning body know in writing, within seven days, if you are convicted of a criminal offence (including being bound over or receiving a caution), or are investigated for professional misconduct by the GMC or another commissioning body. You must also tell the GMC “without delay” if you have accepted a caution, or been charged with or found guilty of a criminal offence anywhere in the world.

This excludes road traffic offences where you accept the option of paying a fixed penalty charge, or fixed penalty notices issued by the local authority. However, Penalty Notices for Disorder at the upper tier penalty level and Fixed Penalty Notices under the Anti-Social Behaviour etc (Scotland) Act 2004 must be reported to both the GMC and your commissioning body.