Shipman report proposes tougher GP revalidation.(general practitioner)(Shipman Inquiry reports)

The fifth report may have serious implications for general practice, write Prisca Middlemiss and Edward Davies.

In the future, GPs could face knowledge tests, fines from primary care organisations (PCOs), mortality data reviews and PCO-held career records. They may even face patient questions at job interviews.

These were some of the recommendations of the 1,300-page Fifth Report of the Shipman Inquiry, which went far beyond the expected criticism of the GMC and suggested measures that could cut across general practice.

Dame Janet Smith, who chaired the inquiry, has recommended a raft of measures that could place extra pressures on GPs and their PCOs on a daily basis, notably over revalidation.

Revalidation review

Dame Janet's radical proposals for revalidation have shot the RCGP to centre stage.

Dismissing the GMC's current proposals for revalidation based on appraisal as legally inadequate, she has called for every GP to take a knowledge test and pass a …