Dame Janet's disappointments: Dame Janet's indignation helps no one

doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7552.1275

BMJ 2006;332:1275 (27 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7552.1275

Letter

Dame Janet's disappointments

Dame Janet's indignation helps no one

The first 100% of the full text of this article appears below.

EDITOR—Has it occurred to Dame Janet Smith that the reasonsher proposals might be so slow to implement are because theyare not an appropriate solution?¹ Of the changes introduced,most doctors know that appraisal is in practice both costlyand ineffectual and that revalidation is likely to be a moregrandiose version of the same. When, one wonders, would a HighCourt judge be happy to have a doctor sit in judgment of someof the very necessary reforms of her profession?

Peter J Mahaffey, consultant surgeon

Bedford Hospital, Bedford MK42 9DJ mahaffey@lycos.co.uk

Competing interests: None declared.