A key component of Appraisals, and future Revalidation, is the requirement for clinicians to gather evidence on the quality of their relationships with patients.  This will probably most often be done by using a validated patient survey.

As this is a requirement of revalidation it makes sense to include this in your PDP

One easy way of doing this is to use the resources from the  Client-Focused Evaluations Program (CFEP)

In primary care, CFEP has developed the Improving Practice Questionnaire (IPQ) (see a copy here), which is one of the questionnaires approved for use in the Quality and Outcomes framework of the new GP Contract. 

 It, is also being used for Appraisals and future Revalidation as a way in which clinicians can gather evidence about their relationships with patients. 

The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) has approved the IPQ nationally for four PGEA hours.  The IPQ has also been approved by the Royal College of Nurses (RCN) Accreditation Unit, and participants will be awarded eight Continuing Education Points (CEPs).  By January 2003, about 1,000 practices (involving 4,000 GPs and 500 nurses) have implemented the IPQ and DISQ.

Improving Practice Questionnaire (IPQ)

CFEP provides all survey materials (questionnaires, envelopes, instructions), processing, analyses and reports to individual GPs/nurses as well as the practice overall.  By using CFEP, you can be assured of an independent and objective service where results are strictly private and confidential. 

Individual practitioners (GPs, nurses, and AHPs) receive results of patient feedback on their interpersonal skills.  Comparison or benchmark scores with other GPs and nurses are also provided.

All that is required from the practice is to give the questionnaire to the patient after their consultation with the doctor or nurse. Once all questionnaires have been completed, the practice returns all the questionnaires for analysis and subsequent return of results.

Doctors may choose to undertake a professional development activity based on the results of their interpersonal skill scores. “Doctors Advancing Interpersonal Skills” (or DAIS) is a self-directed distance module which was developed around the items of the IPQ. The module consists of a 90-minute video and 40-page workbook. Currently, it has approval for 10 hours of PGEA (Service Management) for GPs in the South-West of England.

Follow-up Activities

CFEP has developed two follow-up activities to help clinicians with their professional development. 

  1. A self-directed learning module on improving one’s communication skills in the medical consultation.  It is called Doctors’ Advancing Interpersonal Skills (DAIS). 

  2. A Critical Friends Group which is simply a small group of patients and practice staff coming together to discuss their IPQ results and to plan ways, if necessary, of improving patients’ experience of care.