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Revalidation is still an insult

I was disappointed to read Professor Mike Pringle's defence of revalidation (Revalidation is a reality GPs must accept).

The tenet of his article is that there is a loss of public trust in doctors and that somehow his glorious plans for revalidation are going to make everything hunky-dory with the general public.

Let's get real. The general public still has more respect for our profession than any other.

This is despite the best efforts of the Daily Mail and politicians of every persuasion who see doctor-bashing as an easy way of selling papers or winning votes.

The assumption that the situation is otherwise undermines our professionalism.

The professor gushes that his plans for revalidation will prevent us from being ‘mired in a spiral of mistrust' with politicians and NHS managers.

Really? Am I alone in thinking that the focus of my working day has nothing to do with satisfying the objectives set out here? 

Of course we have to accept revalidation as an inevitable result of the march of the clipboard brigade, but we should not for one moment acknowledge that it is going to make us better doctors or improve our service to our patients.

I remain, as I have always been, insulted by this process.

From Dr Mike Ashworth, Wigan