e-Job Planning & Appraisals

The Trust is currently seeking to purchase a software package, which will allow the Trust to undertake e-Job Planning, medical appraisal, re validation and 360˚ feedback management. This system should meet the requirements detailed below that will replace (if applicable) and upgrade the currently utilised software.

The software will need to reflect the appropriate Terms and Conditions of Service for each of the staff groups and contracts in operation at this present time.

The Trust seeks to purchase software and partner with a provider which is successful in achieving the following priority areas:

Usability for doctors as job planners and appraisers

Job Planning and Appraisal is one of many systems our doctors need to use regularly. Engaging doctors with appraisal and job planning is a challenge - slow and clunky software only makes engagement harder. We want the software to be quick and intuitive. We want the software to help make doctors feel as though the process of appraisal and job planning has helped them succeed in their jobs and been a worthwhile (and short) investment of their time.

Usability for managers and appraisers

For appraisers reviewing multiple appraisals and managers reviewing multiple job plans we want the system to guide them quickly and easily about what they are supposed to complete. We want output forms, approvals and sign off processes to be straightforward.

Good Reporting

We want a system which provides feedback and reporting to users live within the interface of the system. We want this reporting feedback to be available to individuals, teams, immediate managers and departmental and Trust wide managers. We would like a system which extracts reporting information for use in internal and external governance

Management of complexity in job planning

Doctors have complicated jobs, with a variety of duties, contracts, on call commitments and varied weekly rotas. We want job planning software which can manage complexity within an individual's job plan so that its practical to populate and understand. We want time and pay errors to be kept to a minimum. We want teams to be able to use job planning software to understand how they can plan their services across all of their colleagues.

A quick and effective implementation

Improving job planning is a priority for the Trust and we want to make sure the 2025/26 job planning round is completed effectively under a new contract.

Our appraisal software contract ends in May 2025. We want to make sure a new contract allows for a timely and straightforward transition for users. If we change providers, we want to make sure we have access to relevant historic information.

Cost

Our final, and perhaps most important priority is cost. Like all other NHS Trusts we have significant and immediate financial challenges, and we must become a more efficient organisation and keep costs low. Where the cheapest isn't possible, convince us how some additional investment improves value

Web based and security standard

The system must be web based.

The system must be a cloud-based solution to deliver future-proof scalability, performance, data storage, reporting, interoperability and real-time, up-to-date functionality.

The supplier and their system must be able to handle information securely and safely to standard NHS I.T. security requirements and guidelines.

The system must be device agnostic, enabling access to the same application(s) via any device, including: mobiles, tablets, PCs or MACs

All data must be backed up at regular and predefined intervals.

The system connections are to be robust, the system must be available to the Trust 99.5% of the time during the term of the licence agreement. All upgrades should be completed out of usual office hours to reduce impact to business continuity.

The failover system must be transparent to the user ie they must not be aware that a failover has occurred

The system must failover with no loss of data

All data must be secure during transit between systems or component software if the data is exposed to outside intrusions.

All data must be protected from outside intrusions to the system.

The system should be fully compliant with GDPR regulations and mandates.

All data must be returned to the trust in a non-proprietary format that can be easily utilised by an incoming system.

The system must have an audit function and be able to record all user actions e.g. the logs must record the user ID, the date, the timestamp and a clear description of the action.

The system must have unique username and passwords for each login.

The system must have effective password creation and management.

The system must have a secure mechanism for updating/ forgotten passwords.

Fully compliant with Trust hardware and software systems

The system must be able to function on current work systems (operating systems and internet browsers)

The system must be accessible and functional anywhere to ensure there is no impact to flexible working options.

The system must be able to function without any/limited requirement for additional hardware.

The provider must migrate all available existing data from the current appraisal system into the new system in a format that is accessible and compatible with newly inputted data

Organisational ability

The system must model organisation elements to a minimum of 3 levels: (Organisation, Care Group, Department)

The system must have the facility to add and amend organisation elements at any stage to reflect organisational change within the Trust.

The system must provide various levels of user access.

The system must have the capability to add local trust specific information and requirements.

The system must have the facility to add, remove, update and archive any user within the system. The system must have the ability to archive the records of doctors who have left the organisation or import the appraisal records for new starters.

A user-friendly…