5 Tips to Make the Most of Your GP Appraisal

An appraisal provides an opportunity to discuss your achievements and challenges. This way, you can have a review of your past year to plan ahead accordingly. It is a time-consuming exercise as it requires doing a lot of paperwork and completing forms. Sometimes doctors get confused about what factors they should include in the appraisal. However, you should follow some smart tips and tricks that can help make the most of your GP appraisal. It should be more than just a box-ticking exercise. It must be useful to promote quality improvement, patient care, personal development, and professional development. The more you pay heed to every little detail, the more it will help ensure that you get a worthwhile appraisal.

Here are 5 tips mentioned to help you make the most of your GP appraisal.

• Pre plan

You should pre plan beforehand to ensure that you get everything in place in the end. Before you get the appraisal, you should think and plan about how you are going to use your protected time. You can make a list of things that are important for you. Once you are clear about your priorities, you can focus on them accordingly. For instance, if you want to improve your wellbeing, it is the right time to start paying heed to it. Since the coronavirus pandemic has taken a toll on mental health by shifting the dynamics of the entire world, you should better consider improving it. You can also focus on your strengths as they can redirect you to a path of success. It will further help you pick things that you can work on. This kind of positive progress is one of the most important factors that help you analyze what you may want to do in the future.

• Appraiser

You must choose the right appraiser to make sure that GP Appraisal serves its purpose effectively. You should avail the opportunity of having the same appraiser for an additional time. Moreover, you should ensure that the preferences and availability of your appraiser are not a mismatch for you. If you feel like the appraiser is not suitable for you in any way, you should ask for the re-allocation without hesitation.

• Skills & Expertise

You must take advantage of the skills and expertise of the appraiser. Most of the appraisers are good at what they do. They help people uncover a lot of helpful ways that can further help them manage their work to take care of themselves. You must question yourself “What am I assuming about my appraiser?” You can also check their GMC requirements to see whether you meet them or not. Moreover, an appraiser would have the best monitoring skills that you can use to improve your development or growth. You can also discuss in detail with the appraiser about your particular preferences. If you need any additional support, you can directly ask them to signpost resources for you.

• Goals

The PDP goals you set must be your own as it will ensure your engagement in the process. You can discuss your plans in detail with the appraiser to see how you are going to grow with time. You must know how your goals are going to have an impact on your wellbeing, care, and working relationships. You should never forget the things you “must” do in your goals. Also, try to be realistic while setting your goals. You should analyze if the goals are achievable or not. You should know how to capture the small steps as well to keep track of your progress. You shouldn’t underestimate the importance of small changes as they can help you lead towards a bigger goal. You must not forget to keep up your actions with more consistency. It will help you manage both your physical and mental stress. The one most important thing to include in your goals is how you are going to improve the way of looking after yourself.

• Video-conferencing tool

You must use the video-conferencing tool and add its date and time to the system. This way, you can avoid repeated automated reminders that can be annoying sometimes. Also, you can change the date and time of the video-conferencing because of external or local pressures like COVID. It is not impossible to make a change at the last moment, however, it is better if you give as much notice as you can. Most importantly, you should have a good internet connection and a smart device to create a private space to talk with your appraisers. It is even better if you exchange mobile numbers to be able to communicate if anything doesn’t go according to plan. However, if you are confused or worried, you should run a test before the appraisal.