Pathfinder Pilots

On behalf of the Department of Health the NHS Revalidation Support Team (RST) is running a series of pilots and projects to support implementation of the revalidation system for doctors in England.

A number of NHS organisations have been identified to coordinate the pilots.  Each pilot site will be testing the feasibility of the component parts of medical revalidation and to understand the difficulties that may arise and will be working with an agreed number of participant doctors over a fifteen month period.

The overall objectives of the pathfinder pilots are to:

• test whether the proposed components of medical revalidation, such as strengthened medical appraisal, are practical and as efficient as possible, whilst at the same time achieving the desired outcome
• produce an evidence base regarding the costs and benefits of each element of medical revalidation, as well as the whole, to shape the development of the policy and inform a full business case to HM Treasury for the implementation of medical revalidation
• provide proof of concept and build understanding and support within providers of medical care (the NHS in the first instance) and within the medical profession, for the implementation of medical revalidation.

The RST will also be testing the Specialty Standards as part of the piloting. Academy leads are working with the RST teams in each pilot site.

For further information about the pilots please visit the RST website: http://www.revalidationsupport.nhs.uk/pathfinderpilots.asp