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 system  The system must be simple and intuitive to use. The system must include help guides and instructions for users. The Trust and users must have access to a helpdesk. The system must reduce management and administration time spent in relation to appraisal and revalidation. The system interface must have a familiar appearance and functionality to other modern software Training  The supplier must be able to provide training in the user and managerial aspects of the system  Supporting services  The supplier must provide details of any additional supporting services available to be provided to the organisation i.e. help-desk, account management, project management, loading of appraisal documents  Retainment of information  The system must allow information used for medical appraisal and re-validation to be retained in line with statutory and regulatory requirements  Medical Appraisal, Re-validation and 360 Appraiser Requirements  The system must be kept up to date with the current Medical Appraisal Guidance  The system must include the GMC 6 categories of Supporting Information: Continuing professional development  Quality improvement activity  Significant events  Feedback from colleagues  Feedback from patients  Review of complaints and compliments.  The system must have the ability to allow for a second appraiser. The system must allow an assistant to assist the Doctors in completing the appraisal form. The system must give patient assessors the option of submitting their feedback in a number of ways including online. The system must have full audit functionality to enable visibility of changes made and authorisation and sign off processes. The system must provide the ability to view documents in 'read only' format that leaves zero footprint on the computer. The system must allow the Doctor to only share sensitive documents with the appraiser and responsible officer (RO) and Medical Appraisal Lead  The system must have a function that allows the users to see which sections have been completed. The system must be able to carry the previous appraisal information over to the next appraisal cycle.  The system must be able to track the status of an Educational appraisal  Appraiser Requirements Each Appraiser should be able to view and select from a list showing each of the Doctors for whom they are responsible.  For each assigned doctor, the Appraiser should be able to:  View the Personal Development Plan  Browse the doctor's portfolio  View and sign off the appraisal input form  Initiate the appraisal output form. View previous appraisal forms  The appraisal output form must be compliant with Revalidation Support Team and General Medical Council guidelines and the contractor is required to ensure that the software is updated regularly to ensure compliance with current guidelines.   The appraisal output form must include:  A summary of the agreed Personal Development Plan  The 5 statements to the Responsible Officer A summary of the appraisal discussion.  Management and Administration Appraisal functionality  The system must allow the setting of time limits to ensure completion of tasks within certain dates, and to send out reminders to relevent users. The system must allow attachments to be added in all common electronic file formats. The system must allow an appraisee to share online their supporting info with their appraiser. The system must be able to export and save the portfolio for each appraisal including attachments. The system must lock the appraisal portfolio after submission so that it cannot be altered. The system must lock the appraisal including agreed outputs post sign off so that it cannot be altered. The system must allow the appraisal outputs to be shared with the RO and Medical Appraisal Lead at the point of sign off  Additional information: The system must allow for the assigning of appraisers by lead appraisers/admin. The system must not allow doctors to select certain months to conduct appraisals. The system must have checkpoints in the process to ensure process is completed fully and satisfactorily ensuring all mandatory documents are included for example; Quality Assurance form from private practice  System must build in links to mandatory training and declaration forms to ensure mandatory information is readily available to the appraiser/appraisee  Responsible Officer and Revalidation function  The system must have clear dashboards for the Responsible officer (RO), Medical Appraisal Lead and the revalidation administrator  The system must be able to provide a list of doctors who the RO is responsible for  The system must allow the RO to have access to key information, The system must allow the RO to have visibility of information on an RO dashboard. The system must have functionality for an annual Responsible Officer Report which is compliant with NHS England reporting requirements. 360 Function The system must accommodate a colleague and patient 360˚ feedback survey process. The system must allow the setting of time limits to ensure completion of the survey within certain dates. The system must be able to generate e-mail reminders for completion of 360˚ feedback surveys. The system must allow scope for the 360˚ feedback survey template to be tailored to accommodate the needs of specific specialty or staff groups. The system must allow the appraise to complete a self-assessment 360˚ feedback survey. The system must have the ability to conduct patient only surveys, colleague only surveys or a mixture of both. The system must anonymise 360˚ feedback information where appropriate. The system must allow Admin to override minimum response limits Management information reports - Appraisal The system must allow reporting to capture the doctors with completed appraisal in current appraisal year. The system must allow reporting to capture the doctors awaiting appraisal, including progression status in current appraisal year. The system must allow reporting to capture the doctors who have missed an appraisal in current appraisal year. The system must allow reporting to capture the doctors reasons for missing appraisals, i.e. mitigating circumstances The system must allow reporting to capture the doctors with revalidation date due in current appraisal year. The system will be able to track individual doctors through the 5 year revalidation cycle. The system must allow reporting to capture doctors with satisfactory or unsatisfactory portfolio progression, including 360˚ feedback progression. The system must allow reporting of Doctors who have declared special circumstances/long term absence.  The system must allow reporting of revalidation deferrals  Management information reports - 360 The system must allow reporting to capture the doctors with completed 360˚ feedback surveys in current 360˚ feedback cycle  The system must allow reporting to capture the doctors awaiting completed 360˚ feedback surveys in current 360˚ feedback cycle  The system must allow reporting to capture the doctors with 360˚ feedback surveys due in current appraisal year  The system must allow tracking of individual doctors through the 360˚ feedback survey cycle  User details The job plan must include basic staff details, including: First name Surname Employee staff ID (from ESR) Job plan effective date Job title and/or role Grade Full or part time Employment contract eg AfC, consultant (new) Fixed term / permanent Location of work (including if multiple sites) Main specialty Professional registrations Line manager Annual leave entitlement The name of the team(s) that the employee is assigned to (department or team) The Job Plan The job plan must include relevant job plan data, including: Employee contracted hours per week/annum, including a PA calculation for consultant and SAS doctors A calculation of premium PAs for doctors based on the relevant contract A calculation of on call availability, including anticipated unpredictable work arising from the on-call duties Both timetabled and annualised activities A breakdown of the planned activities into relevant categories, including direct clinical care (DCC), supporting professional activities (SPA), additional NHS responsibilities (ANR), external duties (ED) and private practice. Planned activity performed on behalf of other organisations. Job plan objectives Planned activity categories should be customisable at local level. The system should be able to calculate bank holiday entitlement for part time and annualised staff members. The system should support the recording of anticipated outputs for any given activity. The system may be able to set individual effective and end dates for fixed term activities. The system must allow a job plan to be copied between doctors. The job plan must be exportable in an accessible format Sign-off The job plan must include sign off status, including: A two-level sign-off/authorisation process which is Current sign-off status The job plan may include 'track changes' functionality to ease approval of job plan changes Users should be able to add notes to the job plans that are progressing through sign off System should show other information eg last review date Reporting The software must provide reporting information on job planning completion and all information contained within job plans. This reporting must be available on live dashboards within the system This reporting must be extractable for reporting purposes.