Multi-Source Assessment
for Psychiatrists
Every psychiatrist undergoes appraisal. It supports professional
development, is a contractual requirement of NHS employment and
will be a cornerstone of revalidation. The White Paper Trust,
Assurance and Safety proposes that one condition of
relicensure should be that the “the doctor has participated in an
independent 360-degree feedback … exercise in the workplace”.
ACP 360 is a service provided by the Royal College of
Psychiatrists to enable its members to participate in a 360-degree
feedback assessment.
What is ACP 360?
ACP 360 is the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ 360-degree
feedback system. Its purpose is formative - to enable
personal development. It provides structured feedback
to psychiatrists in two of the GMC’s core domains – working
with colleagues and relating to patients. ACP 360
covers eight domains that psychiatrists themselves have
identified as being important:
- Communication
- Availability
- Emotional intelligence
- Decision-making
- Relationships with service users
- Relationships with relatives/carers
- Relationships with other psychiatrists
- Relationships with their team
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What is 360 degree feedback?
360-degree feedback (sometimes known as multi-source feedback)
is a model of assessment which aims to present more rounded
feedback to an individual than the traditional “top-down” approach
where feedback is gathered only from an individual’s line
manager:
Feedback is gathered using validated and reliable
questionnaires that measure an individual’s behaviour in
certain areas. High quality feedback will only be achieved if the
instruments have good psychometric properties.
The psychometric properties of ACP 360 have been tested and the
results were published in the August edition of the
British
Journal of Psychiatry 193, 156-160.
This method of gathering feedback is gaining popularity in the
health sector. This is both part of the general movement towards
better regulation and because it is recognised that multi-source
feedback is the best way of assessing certain aspects of good
medical practice as defined by the GMC.
ACP 360 gathers feedback using validated and reliable
questionnaires that measure an individual’s behaviour in the GMC
domains working with colleagues and relating to patients.
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How is 360-degree feedback used?
360-degree feedback has been used for two distinct purposes. The
first is for performance management (to investigate suspected poor
performance or to make decisions about pay and promotion); the
second is to support personal and professional development. ACP 360
has been designed for the latter purpose; as a formative,
developmental tool.
The GMC, Good Medical Practice and patient
care
The GMC’s Good Medical Practice and the College’s
Good Psychiatric Practice both state that “All
patients are entitled to good standards of practice and care from
their doctors. Essential elements of this are professional
competence; good relationships with patients and colleagues; and
observance of professional ethical obligations.”
The quality of relationships with patients and colleagues are
difficult to measure in any other way than by gathering feedback
from those directly affected. This is why questionnaires with sound
psychometric properties are vital in forming part of a rounded
appraisal.
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How does ACP 360 work?
The psychiatrist completes a
self-assessment online and asks around 18-20 colleagues
to complete an online questionnaire about them
(guidance for
selecting assessor colleagues). Around forty
service users are asked to complete a paper questionnaire
which they send anonymously and confidentially to the Royal College
of Psychiatrists’ Centre for Quality Improvement.
The psychiatrist receives a full,
confidential report. This presents the results in an
accessible format and in the context of national
benchmarks. Areas of strength and of potential improvement are
highlighted. It is anticipated that participants will
reflect on and discuss their results and will incorporate their
report into their trust appraisal folder.
ACP 360 now includes the option of free text
comments from colleague assessors to help participants interpret
the results they receive in their report. This change is in
response to suggestions to improve the effectiveness of ACP 360
feedback linked to appraisal.
These free text comments are sent, along with
a copy of the report, directly to the appraiser to be fed back to
participants in a structured setting. We strongly advise Trusts to
ensure that those providing feedback have received training, and
that there are processes in place to deal with any concerns that
arise.
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Why choose ACP 360?
By March 2010 over 2,700
psychiatrists had been registered with ACP 360. Over 1,830 of these
were enrolled by participating NHS Mental Health Trusts and
Bodies.
Its advantages are that:
- It is designed specifically for psychiatrists and is endorsed
by the Royal College of Psychiatrists
- It captures feedback from service users as well as
colleagues
- Testing has shown that the structure of the questionnaires is
sound and that they are sufficiently reliable for the results to be
meaningful
- It is easy to use and needs no training
- We now have versions of ACP 360 for CAMHS psychiatrists
and for psychiatrists for people with learning
disability - please specify on the enrolment form if you would
like either one of these
- It is now delivered as an electronic package making
it easier to use
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Cost
- £110 + VAT (total cost of £129.25) per individual
- £99 + VAT (total cost of £116.33) per individual for
enrolments of 10 or more psychiatrists
We currently recommend that a psychiatrist
undertake assessment every three years
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To sign up for ACP 360
Please download the Enrolment Form below
(This
version has 57 questions and is no longer in use. It has been
included as it has been referred to in some papers.)
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For further information, please see contact
details below:
ACP 360
Royal College of Psychiatrists
Centre for Quality Improvement (CCQI)
4th Floor, Standon House
21 Mansell Street
London
E1 8AA
Email: acp360@cru.rcpsych.ac.uk
Tel: 020 7977 6664 / 020 7977 6663
Fax: 020 7481 4831
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