TY - JOUR T1 - Dysfunctional doctors – will revalidation help? JF - Clinical Medicine JO - Clin Med SP - 111 LP - 113 DO - 10.7861/clinmedicine.12-2-111 VL - 12 IS - 2 AU - John Scarpello Y1 - 2012/04/01 UR - http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/12/2/111.abstract N2 - Numbers of National Clinical Assessment Service referrals concerning practitioners' performance are much higher for the over-50s, especially in GPs. In 20% of cases there are concerns with diagnosis that are unlikely to be recognised by revalidation. Accurate and timely diagnosis is fundamental to patient safety, and the results of studies in which GPs were tested using mystery patients are not encouraging. We need to assess pratictioners' competencies in diagnosis throughout their careers. Plans to extend working life may require changes to the clinical responsibilities of older doctors. ER -