Oxfordshire Primary Care Learning - September 2010
The NHS appraisal toolkit (https://www.appraisals.nhs.uk) was taken offline with no notice at 4pm on the 9th February 2010. This has left many appraisees and appraisers without access to paperwork which has already been uploaded.
It is strongly recommended that all appraisees who are in this position begin the process of requesting their documentation without delay. Details of how to do this are found in Appendix 1.
In response to the current situation Oxfordshire PCT has prepared an interim process which all appraisees and appraisers should use. If this procedure is followed there should be no necessity of postponing any appraisal. All Oxfordshire PCT GP appraisals are to be completed by 31st March unless exceptional circumstances apply; if you feel that you qualify for postponement under these terms please email gp.appraisal@oxfordshirepct.nhs.uk for advice.
Please remember that, while we will offer every possible support at this time, hand-written forms will not be accepted by the Appraisals team. Electronic copies of the pre- and post-appraisal forms are available both from the ATK page and from the Oxford Primary Care Learning site.
pre-appraisal form post-appraisal form
If you are unable to access copies of the forms, or need any further information please email the Appraisals Team at gp.appraisal@oxfordshirepct.nhs.uk
If the appraisal discussion has been completed but the paperwork is on the toolkit and therefore inaccessible the PCT will honour the claim, but requires emails from both appraiser and appraisee “signing off”, in other words clearly stating that they are happy with the outcome of the appraisal.
For appraisals which were interrupted by the downtime the documentation is completed on Word versions of the Form 4 and PDP.
The appraisee continues to collate any outstanding evidence and uses the Word template to complete their pre-appraisal paperwork, emailing securely to the appraiser (see section 4 on Information Governance) where necessary. Once the toolkit is available the documentation is uploaded and the appraisal proceeds as normal.
- All appraisees who are in this situation should start the process of obtaining their paperwork without delay (outlined in Appendix 1).
- The appraisee makes reasonable efforts to assemble copies of paperwork which has been uploaded so far onto the toolkit and presents it with any evidence yet to be uploaded to the toolkit to their appraiser.
- The appraiser uses their discretion to decide whether the evidence which the appraisee is able to present is sufficient. If it is not then the appraiser can request more evidence, re-arranging the appraisal (before 31st March 2010) where necessary.
- Forms 1-3, Form 4 and the PDP can be completed using templates available both from the appraisal toolkit website (https://www.appraisals.nhs.uk) and from the Oxford Primary Care Learning Website (http://oxfordprimarycarelearning.org.uk/)
- The appraiser submits Form4, PDP and claim in the usual manner to the PCT Appraisals team
- Emails are sent from both appraiser and appraisee “signing off”, in other words clearly stating that they are happy with the outcome of the appraisal.
The appraisee will collate evidence and use the Word template to complete their pre-appraisal paperwork, emailing securely to the appraiser (see section 4 on Information Governance). The appraisee will upload the documentation once the toolkit is available again.
- The appraiser submits Form4, PDP and claim in the usual manner to the PCT Appraisals team
- Emails are sent from both appraiser and appraisee “signing off”, in other words clearly stating that they are happy with the outcome of the appraisal.
- Once the toolkit is available the evidence and pre-appraisal paperwork are uploaded to the Toolkit and the appraisal continues as normal
Until the toolkit is available the PCT expects to receive
- Electronic Word versions of Form4 and PDP (except where the appraisal took place before or during 4pm on the 9th Feb).
- Electronic claim
- Emails from both appraiser and appraisee to state that they are happy with the outcome of the appraisal and are signing off their statement
No handwritten forms will be accepted.
The Oxfordshire PCT Information Governance Policy is Available at nww.oxfordshirepct.nhs.uk.
If using memory sticks to transport data always password protect the files and if possible encrypt the files – see Appendix 3 of the policy for instructions on how to do this. Do not transport Patient Identifiable Data (PID) on memory sticks unless it has been encrypted.
Please see part 13e specifically in the policy titled Use of Portable/Removable Storage Media on page 16
If files are being transported via email please make sure they are password protected, supplying the password to the appraiser either in a separate email or by telephone.
Whenever possible please use an nhs.net email account as this is the most secure of the internet email accounts.
Please see part 15 of the policy on page 22 titled Use of Email for more detailed guidelines.
Where paper evidence must be used we advise using special delivery if documents contain PID. With all documents please request that the appraiser confirms receipt.
Please see 12b in the policy on page 11 titled Policy for sharing Personal Information by POST for more detailed guidelines.
Dear Appraisal Administrator
The Department of Health have provided SCHIN with new advice on the procedure for sending appraisees their appraisal documentation.
The procedure from 11 February 2010 will be as follows:
1. The appraisee should contact SCHIN to request a copy of their documentation either by going towww.appraisals.nhs.uk and using the on-line form or emailing us at atkenquires@schin.co.uk.
2. SCHIN will pass the appraisee’s request and documentation to a team set up by the Department of Health (DH) to process requests in a secure way, on the same basis as requests for personal data made under the provisions of the Data Protection Act. The arrangements will ensure that documentation is sent only to the right person by secure means.
3. The DH team will ask the appraisee (by email and letter) for proofs of identity and current address, to be submitted by registered post.
4. On receipt of the appraisee’s proofs of identity, the team will send the appraise their documentation (also by registered post).
I have attached a flow chart of the procedure.
Several options were considered for making the information available electronically. None that were considered sufficiently secure to provide adequate protection for personal data could be set up within the time available. The interim procedure of sending appraisal documentation to the appraisees registered email address has been stopped.
We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.
Kind regards
Vivienne Horseman
NHS Appraisal Toolkit Team
e: appraisals-enquiries@appraisals.nhs.uk
t: +44 (0) 191 243 6127