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The cost of revalidation: what we know so far

The overall cost of implementing revalidation has yet to be made public, with the Department of Health refusing to publish its impact assessment of all associated costs until Jeremy Hunt has announced whether the planned rollout will go ahead. Here’s what we know so far.

-  The NHS Commissioning Board will fund remediation for those who require it, but is yet to disclose the likely cost of this. The DH’s 2011 report of the steering group on remediation projected an initial investigation could cost up to £20,000 per GP. It said a placement in another organisation could cost around £60,000 for six months, excluding salary and accommodation costs

- The GMC plans to publish its organisational costs relating to the revalidation rollout at the end of the financial year. Last year the regulator’s 24-member continued practice and revalidation directorate cost £2.7m – and the GMC is currently hiring to expand the directorate

- Other costs likely to be factored in to the impact assessment include the cost of expanding appraisal, funding for the revalidation support team, which has overseen pilots and readiness assessments with Ipsos Mori, and the cost of responsible officers, which has previously been estimated at £26m in the transition year, and £22m each year after that

- In addition, every GP or their PCO will also have to pay for professionally-assessed 360 degree feedback questionnaires, likely to cost around £6m in total.