As part of the revalidation process, doctors must collect patient feedback at least once every five years. While it is encouraging to see patient feedback included in this process, questions must be asked about what message, whether intentional or not, the requirement to collect patient feedback so infrequently sends to those involved. Are we unintentionally suggesting that patient insight is only worth exploring once every five years? Currently, patient feedback for revalidation purposes must be collected using validated questionnaires. Our existing definitions of validity suggest that validated tools are those whose psychometric properties have been tested and evaluated, (often with limited patient involvement), leading to the conclusion that “high quality feedback will only be achieved if the instrument has good psychometric properties.”. This approach we argue is fundamentally flawed. Validity is more than psychometric validation. How stakeholders perceive, create, value, and respond to the process of patient feedback is also vitally important.

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