David Rew Consultant General Surgeon

Staying Safe: Complaints, Policies, Appraisal
and Revalidation for Cancer Surgeons

David A Rew, Consultant Surgeon
University Hospital of Southampton
BASO~ACS National Council

2013 is the year in which GMC-directed Revalidation comes of age for UK registered medical practitioners. By the time that you read this article, some of you will already have been through the formal process, and many others will be approaching the challenge of documentation with varying degrees of anxiety and irritation.

The revalidation process is but one element of a tidal wave of bureaucracy and oversight which threatens to engulf busy, responsible and conscientious surgeons. It represents but one end of a spectrum of the administrative detail to which individual practitioners must submit, which also includes detailed job planning and employer led Annual Appraisal.