PRPlayers

Delivering Specialist Role Players for Medical Performance Assessments

Challenge

The General Medical Council (GMC) is the UK’s statutory body responsible for regulating the medical profession under the Medical Act 1983 (as amended). Its core responsibilities include:

• Maintaining the register of qualified doctors

• Promoting high standards in medical education

• Fostering good medical practice

• Taking appropriate action where a doctor’s fitness to practise is in doubt

To support this work, the GMC requires the provision of highly skilled role players for:

• 40–70 Fitness to Practise performance assessments per year

• Approximately 25 validation sessions annually

These assessments are critical in determining whether a doctor meets the professional and communication standards required to continue practising.

Requirements

To meet the GMC's complex and sensitive needs, PRP was required to provide:

• Professionally trained and standardised role players

• Briefings and debriefings for role players before and after each OSCE

• Child actors and licensed chaperones

• Culturally diverse role players, including those who speak foreign languages

• Support in developing and testing new scenarios for OSCEs and simulated surgeries

Solution

With over 27 years’ experience in medical role play, PRP was well-positioned to deliver a comprehensive, high-quality service. Our specialised medical role play team has extensive expertise in portraying:

• Healthcare professionals

• Simulated patients and relatives

• Complex clinical and interpersonal scenarios

We offer a diverse pool of role players across various age groups, genders, and ethnic backgrounds to ensure realistic representation and scenario accuracy.

All PRP role players working with the GMC have prior OSCE experience, enabling them to perform confidently in high-stakes clinical assessment environments. To ensure consistency and reliability, PRP developed a bespoke training programme tailored specifically to the GMC's requirements, focusing on standardisation, communication, and feedback techniques.

Results

Over the years, PRP has successfully delivered:

• Approximately 450 Fitness to Practise Performance Assessments

• Numerous Validation Events supporting the GMC’s assessment process

Due to the quality, professionalism, and reliability of PRP’s services, the GMC has extended the contract for a further three years - a testament to the strength of the partnership and the impact of PRP’s role players.

Why It Matters

This work supports the GMC’s mission to ensure safe, effective, and respectful care for patients across the UK by accurately assessing doctors’ communication and clinical performance. PRP is proud to contribute to maintaining the integrity, fairness, and quality of this vital process.