Appraisal Matters: January 2026

Support Group Drop In meeting invitations: 1-2pm

We have sent out new invitations to try to resolve the email issue with diary management.
Please note the change of date for the next support group drop in meeting:

Monday 16th February - meet.google.com/tyq-jvup-ybu
Tuesday 17th March - meet.google.com/jvy-ngdz-imm

Appraisal Over 28 Days

There have been a few appraisals over the Christmas period which went over 28 days for signoff. We monitor this for our commissioners to make sure that we understand when a doctor or appraiser needs additional support, or an IT issue has arisen.
Please don’t worry if an appraisal is going over, just let us know as soon as you can. The data will be included in your annual PDR to reflect on in your own appraisal, but we know it is often outside your control.

Urgent Appraisal Reassignment - Thank you!

We are delighted to share a recent success story. When an appraiser was unfortunately taken ill, only hours before a scheduled appraisal meeting, they posted in the Whatsapp support group for help and had a very positive response. Firstly, they were reminded that postponing an appraisal date is entirely appropriate if you want to do the appraisal
yourself. In this case, a different appraiser volunteered in order to honour the time already agreed. The appraiser and the doctor were very grateful for that flexibility. Thank you to everyone involved in responding so quickly.

Principles governing GMC compliance for feedback (MSF/PSQ)

Feedback should be formal i.e. explicitly solicited from respondents using an appropriate feedback tool. It must cover the whole scope of practice looked at from a range of perspectives and different roles. The doctor should reflect on the implications for their future practice in terms of things to maintain or do more of, do differently or stop doing.

The number of colleague or patient responses considered sufficient depends on the feedback tool and the scope of work of the doctor. Some doctors may have no direct patient facing work and not require a patient survey at all.

There are no official ‘GMC approved’ questionnaires, but ideally the survey should be standardised, validated and administered independently to maintain objectivity and confidentiality. It should generate an externally collated feedback report with benchmark data and free text comments. The final decision about the suitability of a tool rests with the RO/SP. Use of an unusual form of feedback, or allowing low numbers of respondents, must be agreed before the final appraisal before the revalidation recommendation due date.

FourteenFish includes numerous subtly different but appropriate feedback tools. Our doctors mainly use one of the Colleague 360 for Clinical Doctors, Medical Educators or Health Leaders, which each expect fifteen responses before they can be shut down automatically, although lower numbers may be agreed with the RO/SP.

The FourteenFish Patient feedback for Clinical doctors defaults to 34 responses, in line with early research about GP feedback, but can also be closed with fewer. There are no official ‘GMC approved’ numbers of respondents required and many specialty doctors struggle to get 34 patient responses. Their Royal College or Faculty may recommend 15 or fewer, but the final arbiter is the RO/SP.

The full GMC requirements can be found here (Patient Feedback) and here (Colleague Feedback). In summary:
Patient Feedback:
  • must not be collected or collated by the doctor themself
  • should use the most appropriate feedback method for the patients, which may include: structured questionnaires, structured interviews, focus groups, formal comment cards or a digital feedback tool
  • should use an independent provider to process the feedback and give an anonymised report of the results
  • should minimise bias in the selection of patients asked to take part. For example, by asking a colleague to approach a number of consecutive patients, or a random sample.
Colleague Feedback:
  • should use standard questionnaires that are consistent with the principles, values and responsibilities set out in Good Medical Practice
  • should, where possible, use questionnaires that have been validated and are independently administered
  • must include people chosen impartially from a range of different roles
If in doubt, ask the RO/SP to agree in advance that what the doctor plans to do is a fairand proportionate way to seek meaningful feedback. This can make a useful PDP goal.

What am I like to appraise?

One of our appraisers was asked by their appraisee: What am I like to appraise?
We can easily give the appraisee feedback in terms of more quantifiable factors:
  • Speed of response to email eg setting dates and signing off
  • Punctuality in sending over the appraisal portfolio and any additional information
  • Quality of reflective notes added to the appraisal
  • Understanding of the appraisal and revalidation requirements
We discussed the influence of other things that can affect the relationship such as relative seniority, scope of work overlap and less specific personality factors. One suggestion for a response might be to ask what the doctor is curious to know about how they present themselves?

Mandatory Training

This is a perennial hot topic. The RCGP Council agreed new RCGP principles for mandatory training in November 2025, which they hope may be adopted by other specialties: https://www.rcgp.org.uk/representing-you/policy-areas/mandatory-training

Mandatory training is normally considered an employer requirement, not a regulatory requirement for doctors. However, GMP 2024 explicitly includes expectations and competencies around ‘Safeguarding children and adults who are at risk of harm’ (Domain 2 .41 and .42) and ‘Helping in emergencies’ (Domain 2 .43).

A commissioner reached out to us regarding the review of mandatory training through appraisal and the possibility of including a question about mandatory training in the appraisal process. This is something many appraisers do to support their appraisee’s reflection on it anyway. In addition, FourteenFish has a ‘Compliance Passport’ which each
doctor can choose to include in their appraisal, and which they can agree to share (via FourteenFish) with their manager, without including any other appraisal documentation. This can be a useful way to keep track of employer requirements and let the line manager know that they are up to date.

We would strongly resist any suggestion that appraisal should have a ‘policing’ function, especially for an employment requirement. Appraisers are critical friends who can support a doctor in gathering a portfolio of supporting information to demonstrate their continued competence.

At the same time, some appraisers commented that it is not always clear what the mandatory training requirements are in their organisation or specialty, or how to access appropriate and proportionate training, both for themselves as doctors and for their appraisees. We will be:
  • Supporting commissioners to ensure all doctors understand which mandatory training requirements are applicable to them
  • Supporting commissioners to ensure all doctors have access to appropriate mandatory training resources
In appraisal, it may be appropriate to consider:
  • Whether a PDP goal around understanding mandatory training requirements and finding appropriate proportionate and transferable resources to meet those requirements would be helpful
  • Letting doctors know that they can share their Compliance Passport with their manager and use it to track their mandatory training

Pro bono appraisals

We are very proud of our reputation for supporting doctors in financial difficulty with a free appraisal, access to FourteenFish and free admin support. Thank you to everyone who has volunteered.

We have recently seen an increase in referrals from the Cameron Fund and the GMC and so we plan to spread the net wider to find more appraisers willing to do an appraisal.

‘Grandfather’ rights to practise as a GP in Jersey

There are a handful of doctors practicing as GPs in Jersey, who are not on the GMC GPregister. This is not a problem as they have ‘grandfather’ rights to work as GPs in Jersey.

Website Revision

We are excited to be working on a new iteration of our website which we hope will be a major improvement. Duncan Walling will share some ideas in the February Support Group Drop In meeting, so please prioritise coming along on 16th Feb, and inputting to our discussions.

Please take 5 minutes to fill out this form with your suggestions on how we can improve
the design and content of the website.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScfUnJNQHRl44QU_b10eqsUw7tobKdbDKpmrZV6Rb62c7fZJA/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=103542450309616388976
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