GMC queries feedback quality

The GMC has said that official assessments regarding doctors’ professionalism should be considered carefully before being accepted due to the variability of feedback. Research commissioned by the GMC found that some doctors have a tendency to receive lower scores than others, whilst some groups of patients or colleague assessors also provide lower scores. The researchers, from the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry, said they identified a systematic bias’ in the assessment of doctors’ professionalism. They reported that doctors got less positive feedback from patients when their primary medical degree was from a non-European country.