Questionnaires for 360-degree assessment of consultant psychiatrists: development and psychometric properties

BACKGROUND Expert clinical judgement combines technical proficiency with humanistic qualities. AIMS To test the psychometric properties of questionnaires to assess the humanistic qualities of working with colleagues and relating to patients using multisource feedback. METHOD Analysis of self-ratings by 347 consultant psychiatrists and ratings by 4422 colleagues and 6657 patients. RESULTS Mean effectiveness as rated by self, colleagues and patients, was 4.6, 5.0 and 5.2 respectively (where 1 = very low and 6 = excellent). The instruments are internally consistent (Cronbach's alphaandgt;0.95). Prinicipal components analysis of the colleague questionnaire yielded seven factors that explain 70.2% of the variance and accord with the domain structure. Colleague and patient ratings correlate with one another (r=0.39, Pandlt;0.001) but not with the self rating. Ratings from 13 colleagues and 25 patients are required to achieve a generalisability coefficient (Ep2) of 0.75. CONCLUSIONS Reliable 360-degree assessment of humane judgement is feasible for psychiatrists who work in large multiprofessional teams and who have large case-loads. DECLARIATION OF INTEREST The Royal College of Psychiatrists manages the ACP 360 system and charges a fee for its use by consultant psychiatrists. Funding detailed in Acknowledgements.