Regular practice review and collegial practice visits

One of the ways doctors stay competent is by participating in recertification programmes.  Regular practice reviews (RPRs) and collegial practice reviews can form part of this recertification programme.

Purpose of RPRs and collegial practice reviews

Collegial practice visits and RPR are quality improvement processes. Their primary purpose is to help maintain and improve the standards of the medical profession by helping individual doctors identify aspects of their performance that could be improved, benefiting both their own professional development and the quality of care their patients receive. They are supportive and collegial reviews of a doctor’s practice by peers, in the doctor’s usual practice setting.

Evaluation of RPR

RPR has been a component of the Inpractice recertification programme since July 2013.

In 2014 the Council commissioned the research and evaluation specialists Malatest International, to evaluate the RPR programme over a five year period in order to determine whether the programme is working as intended and what is being achieved. The final report concluded:

  • regular practice review processes are well established
  • RPR helped many doctors identify areas of strength and areas that could be improved
  • many doctors act on the RPR report and make changes
  • RPR helped give assurance that competence was being maintained
  • RPR was likely to be improving the quality of care being delivered to patients.