Evaluating individual performance for clinical governance.

Individual competence Doctors “must be committed to lifelong learning and be responsible for maintaining the medical knowledge and clinical and team skills necessary for the provision of quality care”.1 The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) also stresses the importance of lifelong learning. The NMC recognises that health care is an area of constant change that necessitates a dynamic approach to learning. In order to develop and maintain competence, nurses are required to “demonstrate responsibility for your own learning through the development of a portfolio ... and to be able to recognise when further learning and development may be required”.2 Describing your roles and responsibilities will help you to define what your competence should be now, or what competence you are hoping to attain, for example, as a practitioner with a special interest (PwSI).3 You might compare your current competency with that required by the Faculty of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care.4 You will need to describe the standards expected in the range of tasks and roles you undertake, and reference the source of standard setting, for example, from the Faculty4 or elsewhere.5 To perform consistently well requires efficient systems and sufficient resources. You will need adequate numbers of other competent doctors or staff and a readily available infrastructure such as diagnostic and treatment resources.6