Excellent review scheme for critical incidents but insufficient for revalidation

I want to consider the potential use of the Scottish Audit of Surgical Mortality (SASM)1 scheme for revalidation of surgeons. Revalidation is an important policy initiative in the United Kingdom from the medical profession's regulatory body, the General Medical Council.2 It is aimed at ensuring that doctors remain up to date and fit to practise, and is also a way of restoring and retaining the public's trust in doctors. The policy is in some difficulty, and the government has ordered a review of how revalidation can be made to work.

The Royal College of Surgeons of England and the Senate of Surgery recommend that …