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Recruitment of clinical reviewers has now closed and we are not accepting applications. We aim to organise another reviewer training and development event in the future. If you are interested in becoming an invited reviewer in the future, please enquire with the Invited Reviews team via invited.reviews@rcpch.ac.uk, and a member of the team will be in touch when the next reviewer recruitment round is open.

In the meantime, to find out more about the role of an invited reviewer, please read the below sections alongside the downloadable role description and profile documents below.

Notes:

• Reviewers must remain actively involved in clinical practice, continue to hold a professional registration/licence to practise with the GMC or Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), and be up to date with their Continuing Professional Development (CPD) or be no more than three years post-retirement from active NHS clinical practice and uphold registration/licence to practise with the GMC or NMC.
• If you have retired from clinical practice within the last three to five years, we have several opportunities for consideration other than as an invited reviewer, which your expertise and valuable contributions to the service would be appreciated. If this is the case, please enquire with the Invited Reviews team: invited.reviews@rcpch.ac.uk.

»Ê¼Ò»ªÈË the Invited Reviews Service

The RCPCH IRS receive requests from trusts/boards for invited reviews on a range of issues including clinical governance, service reconfiguration, job planning, team working, concerns about patient safety and workforce. The RCPCH IRS has a role to assist in these circumstances to, and, where appropriate, to undertake an invited review. Where the College cannot itself directly respond to the request, it will aim to signpost for assistance.

Where the RCPCH is commissioned to undertake an invited review, the role of the Invited Reviews team is to:

• Gather and review information in relation to the terms of reference (TOR) agreed by the RCPCH, the Invited Reviews team and the organisation commissioning the invited review;
• Evaluate the safety and quality of care provided by a service where concerns have been raised, and consider the specific issues and/or problems identified documented in the TOR;
• Utilise its knowledge and experience of recognised standards, best practice and team and organisational development to draw conclusions, identify areas of good practice and make recommendations for improvement; and to
• Consider the updates and action plans provided by the commissioning organisation to the RCPCH as part of the follow up process and provide further feedback, advice and support as required.

Utilising in-depth knowledge of standards, recognised best practice and service models, through the provision of experienced reviewers the IRS helps and assists teams to work towards sustainable services with improved outcomes for children and young people and compliant, effective working arrangements for professionals.

Each invited review is specifically tailored to the needs of the client organisation with bespoke terms of reference and a review team that best fits the requirements and composition of the organisation involved.

The purpose of the role and key responsibilities

The credibility of the RCPCH IRS is highly dependent upon the skills and approach of the entire Invited Reviews team.

Our Invited Reviewers display core skills, knowledge and experience relating to the specific review in question. The Invited Reviews Service is keen to expand the pool of reviewers to ensure an appropriate range of expertise is available when considering requests for received invited reviews.

An Invited Reviewer is an individual who:

• Understands the current political and managerial structures within the NHS and policies which underpin them;
• Has up to date knowledge of relevant service standards, guidelines and publications, and their application;
• Has good interpersonal and communication skills, with tact and diplomacy, and the ability to listen and engage effectively;
• Is able to conduct interviews sensitively using careful questioning appropriate for the audience;
• Can see beyond their own working environment and experience, and can think broadly about issues encountered during a review;
• Can seek out, interpret, and reference relevant standards and guidance, as well as judge the relevance of information collected during a review;
• Can remain impartial, non-judgemental and objective, and provide clear and logical feedback.

All Invited Reviewers are appointed by and are accountable to the Invited Reviews Programme Board.

For a full breakdown of the requirement for Invited Reviewers working with the College, please see Appendix 1 (person specification) of the accompanying role description and profile documents, which can be downloaded below.

Support provided from the College

Reviewers will receive ongoing support in their responsibilities by the other members of their review team, the wider pool of reviewers, the Clinical Lead for Invited Reviews and the Invited Reviews Service staff team.

Reviewers, or their employing organisations, will receive a fee for their time spent on reviews, plus reimbursement of reasonable expenses incurred for travel and subsistence. These costs are directly charged by the College to the contracting organisation and do not constitute any form of employment of the reviewer by the College.

Successful applicants will be invited to the next RCPCH Training & Development event, which is planned for in early 2024.

Only those who are able to attend the training sessions will be considered to become an Invited Reviewer.

While we endeavour to involve as many of our reviewers as possible, please note that due to the nature of requests and areas of specialty it may be the case that we are not able to match you to a review immediately.

Reviewer training and development events will be provided to enable reviewers to fulfil the requirement to attend refresher training at least every three years. This will ensure that reviewers remain up to date with the Invited Reviews Programme and processes, have the opportunity to provide feedback and share experiences, and contribute to discussions on topics relating to the Invited Reviews Programme.

Appropriate release of medical colleagues for the purposes for carrying out work for the wider health system

In May 2022, the four Chief Medical Officers, the GMC, NHS England and the Academy wrote to NHS Boards, encouraging trusts and trust Boards to continue to look favourably on requests from doctors seeking support to undertake national or regional work for the wider benefit of the public and of health services across the four nations of the UK.

The 'Appropriate release of medical colleagues for the purposes for carrying out work for the wider health system' letters can be access here (; ).