Medical Appraisal Health Board Admin teams

All users are advised to submit a SOAR Login Request form for help with accessing SOAR, however they may approach you directly for help via phone or email.

When a login request form has been submitted by the user, you (as health board admin) will receive an email confirmation and you would either reset the requester's password or create a new user account once you have completed local verification checks, for example:

• Check with HR to see if the user works for your health board
• Primary care: is the GP on the performers list?
• Secondary care: is consultant on the HR system?
• User doesn't work for you? Send it to SOAR@nes.scot.nhs.uk for redirect

If the user is an employee of your health board and should therefore be on SOAR - proceed to search and amend their login details as necessary.

Updating user details

• Search for existing account via "User Search"
  • Search GMC number, email and spelling of surname
• If record found, amend login details
  • Check 'last updated' date at bottom of login sections (in case already actioned by another colleague)
  • Assign a dummy password (must be at least 8 characters long, mix of upper and lowercase, includes at least one number and one symbol); or use Reset button to wipe password and security questions
  • The system will send automated email to user confirming their login details

If you can't locate the user in user search above, a new user account will likely need to be created.

You can follow steps below to create a new user account.

Reasons for creating a new user account include:

• The doctor is no longer a trainee (post-CCT)
  • Trainee accounts are separate from the appraisal accounts on SOAR
  • Qualified/post-CCT trainees will need a new account created for appraisal purposes
  • Trainee accounts will be archived post-CCT

• The doctor is new to working in Scotland
  • SOAR is only used by those working in Scotland
  • Doctors joining from outside Scotland (England, EU, etc) will need an account set up
  • You may need to request a Form 4 equivalent to confirm they've been appraised elsewhere before

3 steps to create a new account

Make sure that the user is definitely not on SOAR first via name, GMC number and email.  If user is definitely NOT on SOAR, follow the below 3 steps to create a new user account:

1. Click on 'New user' from the menu on the left of the page to create the new user account profile
• Fill out the General Details for the new user
• Required fields are forename, surname, email address and GMC number
• Allocate a new unique login name but leave password blank (for now)
• Leave the Security Questions section blank. The new user will add this information once logged in
• Click 'Save'
• If the login name inserted is already in use you will be prompted to change it
2. Add the user's roles
• When saved, the account is created and a new 'Roles' tab will appear along the top - click on this
• Select the user's Role from the drop-down menu
• Select the user's Health Board from the drop-down menu
• Click the 'Add New Role' button
3. To finish, return to the 'Details' tab to add the password (must be alpha-numeric, include upper and lowercase, a symbol and be at least 8 characters long).  This triggers an email to the user informing them of their login details (if password was added in step 1 it would not trigger the email).

When a doctor is no longer working in Scotland their SOAR user account needs to be archived.  But before you can archive the account, all user roles must be removed first.

To do this:

1. Locate the user via User Search or Appraisees from the menu
2. When in the user's profile page, click on the Roles tab along the top
3. Click on the Remove button for all roles that have been assigned to the user
   If there are any roles you are not sure about, e.g. Ed Sup, TPM etc, contact the helpdesk**
4. When removing a user's appraisee role, you will be prompted for a reason why the user role is being removed - the response will be added as an "Admin Note" for auditing purposes
5. If the appraisee has any incomplete opened appraisals still awaiting completion you will see a pop up message saying so.  You can proceed to removing the appraisee role but the appraisals will remain on the system, so you are best to look into these first to see if the appraisals need deleted or signed off - if they need signing off, do NOT remove the appraisee role and leave this until after appraisal is signed off
6. Once all roles have been removed, the option to archive the account will be enabled near top of the page
7. Click the button to change account from 'Live' to 'Archived'

That's it.

If a doctor is simply moving to a different Health Board in Scotland, their user account does NOT need to be archived. In this case the doctor's appraisee role needs to be updated.  Liaise with your counterpart in the appraisee's old health board to release and add.

**Former appraisees can login to SOAR to access their appraisal history to download their past Form 4s.  However this is only possible if the appraisee had NO user roles on SOAR, so if when you are removing a user from the health board and you are unsure about the Ed Sup or other trainer roles, please contact the helpdesk for assistance.

Occasionally former appraisees (e.g. doctors who no longer work in Scotland) may request temporary access to documentation from their previous appraisals.  Do NOT add them to SOAR under "Other" or your own health board.

Archived users are able to login to SOAR to retrieve their documents as needed without the need for adding them to a health board.  Simply reset their login or give their account a new password.

It is the health boards' responsibility to allocate appraisers to appraisees and is actioned typically by the local health board admin teams with assistance and guidance from local Appraisal Leads. Please note:

• appraisees cannot choose their own appraisers
• they can request a change if the initial allocation is not suitable (e.g. neighbours, in-laws, line manager etc)
• appraiser assignment requests sent to SOAR helpdesk will be forwarded to local teams as we have no involvement in the process

There are two ways to allocate appraisers: individually or in groups.

Assign appraiser to appraisee individually:

• Search for the appraisee in question either via User Search or Appraisees from the menu on the left
• Click on the appraisee's name in the results to take you to their profile details
• Click on the Appraisee tab along the top
• You should see the option to allocate the appraisee a new appraiser in the widget near top left of the page - select the appraiser from the dropdown box
• Click Save to finish
• The option to send confirmation of the new allocation will be enabled after you click Save

Typically appraisers are added to SOAR by the central team after they have been recommended as ready after attending the NES New Appraiser training course.  If the appraiser is not in the dropdown menu, contact the helpdesk to check the appraiser's training status.  If appraiser has Appraisal Lead's approval to take on the role of appraiser, you can add this person to SOAR and assign the appraiser role yourself. 

If unsure contact the helpdesk for assistance.

Follow steps outlined above to navigate to the user's Appraisee tab.

If the person is a clinical academic you need to action two things:

1. please tick the corresponding tickbox in the widget near top right of page (this enabled the additional academic medicine form for the appraisee to complete); and
2. allocate the university appraiser (assuming it's a different person to the main NHS appraiser) as a co-appraiser in the dropdown menu in the widget.

Please note the above steps describes how a co-appraiser is assigned to the user's profile.  For the co-appraiser to be included in the appraisal process, they have to be assigned BEFORE the interview is created on SOAR; otherwise the co-appraiser will not appear on the appraisal and will not be able to review the appraisee's forms nor sign off the Form 4 summary.

If this happens, you can manually add/edit the co-appraiser details on the interview.  (see 5c)

The Appraisal Co-ordinator role is for those who need to be informed of the appraisal process but are not involved in it. This would include:

• Line Managers
• Clinical Directors
• Associate Medical Directors
• University Administrators (can perform admin functions but only for those Clinical Academics assigned to them)

Assigning a Co-ordinator

1. Follow steps as outlined in item 5 above and navigate to the user's "Appraisee" tab
2. Select Co-ordinator from 'Appraisal Co-ordinator Assignment(s)' drop-down menu.**
3. Click on the 'Add Co-ordinator' button
4. Click 'Save'

** If the required Co-ordinator does not appear in drop-down list, the Co-ordinator role will need to be added to that user first. Please see item 2 on creating user accounts for reference.

Appraisal co-ordinators have the same access as Admins except they can only access those linked to them - by yourselves.

If an appraisal is already in progress but with the wrong co-appraiser (or none) assigned, this can be amended by yourselves as health board admins - so long as the Form 4 has NOT been forwarded.

1. Navigate to the appraisal in question
2. If the Form 4 has not been forwarded, you will see the "change" button next to the co-appraiser's name.  Click on this and select the correct person from the dropdown menu.

if the Form 4 has been forwarded, the "change" button will not be enabled.  You would need to contact the helpdesk for further assistance at that point.

You might get asked to add an appraiser to SOAR if they have been appointed by your Appraisal Lead directly outwith the NES Appraiser training programme.  (e.g. active appraiser relocated from NHS England/Wales, relocating from another NHS Scotland board etc)

If the doctor in question is already a SOAR user, all you do is navigate to that user's profile details and click on the "Roles" tab and add the appraiser role from the dropdown menu under the section "Login roles".  If not you will need to create a new user profile (see steps in item 2).

If you are adding an appraiser whose main function is to appraise either clinical academics (uni), clinical fellows, dentists or public health doctors, please click on the "Appraiser" tab (after you have added the user role) and select the options accordingly.  This will help with possible future report filtering.

The appraiser or co-appraiser for a specific appraisal can be changed so long as the Form 4 has not been forwarded or signed off.  To do this please follow the steps outlined in item 5c - you will see the "change" button on both the appraiser and co-appraiser's names.

If a change in appraiser or co-appraiser is required after Form 4 has been forwarded or signed off, please contact the helpdesk for further assistance.

Assign an appraiser to a group of appraisees - Primary Care (GPs)

This can be useful if, for example, you wish to assign a single appraiser to a number of GPs in a particular practice or doctors in a health board.

To assign an appraiser to a group of appraisees via individual practices:

• Click on 'Practices' from the menu
• Search for the relevant Practice and select it
• Scroll down to the 'Appraisees who belong to this practice' section
• Change the appraiser for each use the 'Assigned Appraiser' drop-down menu
• Click 'Save'

If the appraisee is not in the practice, chances are they've not been added.  In which case, use the steps outlined in item 5 to go to the GP's "PC Appraisee" tab and add the practice at the bottom of the page.

Assign an appraiser to a group of appraisees - Secondary Care

In the menu on the left there is an option for "Appraisee Assignment" - click on this.  You can sort the page as needed.  Using the tickbox on the left, select all appraisees you wish to (re)allocate, then in the top of the page, select the "Assign new Appraiser to the selected Appraisees" button, select the new appraiser from the dropdown and click Submit.

Please note this function might not work well for larger health boards so please make use of the sorting function in the column headings.  (We will look to improve this in future development.)

To check the status of an appraisal, log in to SOAR and click on the 'Interviews' link from the menu on the left of the page. Use the search settings at the top of the page to refine your search results (make sure to click on the "Search" button to update your results).

The interview status options have the following definitions:

• To Be Submitted - Appraisal forms not submitted and Confidentiality Statement not yet accepted
• To Be Submitted and In Progress - Appraisal forms not submitted but Confidentiality Statement accepted
• In progress - Appraisal Forms have been submitted
• Completed - Interview complete, Form 4 (summary) signed off
• Completed (Manually) - Interview marked as completed via admin manually

In the search results, interview details can be obtained by clicking on the pencil icon in the edit column on the left of the table. Note that the column headings with dark-blue text can be sorted by clicking on the corresponding column name.

The entries in the 'Co' column refer to co-appraiser status at Interview Time

• Yes = Co-Appraiser involved
• No = No Co-Appraiser involved
• U = You are the Co-Appraiser

Although appraisers can create interview meetings on SOAR, only admins have the function to delete them; and they can only be deleted if the appraisal has NOT been signed off.

To do this, follow the steps above in item 7 to track the appraisal in question.  Once you have found the interview, you will see from the search results a red cross button to the right of the appraisal if it can be deleted (e.g. not signed off).  Click on this to delete the corresponding appraisal.

If you are unsure or if the situation is complex please liaise with the helpdesk for further assistance (please make sure to provide the appraisee's name and GMC number).

To check on whose appraisals still to be signed off, you can search the interviews using both the interview and the form statuses:

1. Click on "Interviews" from the menu
2. in the "Interview status" dropdown select "To be submitted and in progress"
3. in the "Form status" dropdown select "Form 4 forwarded"
4. Click "Search"

This will bring up a list of appraisees whose Form 4 still awaits their review and sign off.

You can change the filter for Form status to "Form 4 draft" and this will list the appraisals where it still awaits the appraiser to forward the form.

If you change the Form status filter to "Form 5A forwarded", this brings up a list of appraisals where the Form 5A has been forwarded by the appraiser, but is waiting for the Appraisal Lead to sign off.

Typically, most health boards expect the appraisers and appraisees to manage their own schedule and appraisal meetings.  Some boards have dedicated admin team to manage their area's appraisal calendar.  You might also receive an urgent SOS from an appraiser to help set up the appraisal meeting on SOAR.  Regardless, this is how you would do it:

1. Click on "Interviews" from the menu on the left
2. In the top section of the page will be a number of filter options, underneath the dropdown menus you will see a button to "Create new interview" - click on this
3. Select the appraiser and appraisee from the dropdown menus when prompted
4. Add the meeting location and date and time
5. The Appraisal Period should auto select from when you selected the meeting date.  It counts from April to March and is used to track when an appraisal took place within a given period (not what was discussed).  For late appraisals (e.g. appraisal in mid April that should count towards the previous appraisal period) you can overwrite the appraisal period - you will get a red warning message but you can disregard and click Save when done.

Form 5A is used in lieu of a Form 4 for exemptions from appraisal e.g. mat leave, sick leave, sabbatical etc.

Form 5A can be created by either the appraiser or yourselves - the health board admin team (for instance, Form 5A was used by some boards during the Covid-19 pandemic and this was actioned by admin teams.)

To create a Form 5A:

1. Create a dummy interview (see item 8 above), set the date to midnight on 31st March and set the corresponding appraisal period - click Save
2. You should see a button on the right to "Create Form 5A" - click on this
3. You will be prompted to make sure you've discussed it with your Appraisal Lead first - click OK
4. In the top of the Form 5A select the Appraisal Lead you need to sign off the form
5. Complete the rest of the form as needed
6. When finished, click on the "Submit" button at bottom of the page to send to selected Appraisal Lead for their review and sign off.

There are two possible scenarios where you (the local admin) might get asked to unlock a signed off Form 4:

• To allow the appraiser to amend Form 4 or
• To allow the appraisee to add further documents to the appraisal (MSF, PSQ etc)

Both will require the unlocking of Form 4 in the first instance.

Unlock a Form 4

• Click on 'Appraisees' from the menu on the left of the page
• Search for the appraisee by name or GMC number
• Click on the 'Appraisals' tab
• Click on the notepad icon corresponding to the appraisal of interest
• On the interview page, click on the 'Form 4' tab
• On the 'Form 4' page, click on the unlock button near bottom of the page
• Enter reason for unlocking when prompted
• Click "Unlock"

The system will send an automated email to the appraisee, appraiser and yourselves to confirm the unlock.

Enable Further Documentation

The unlocked Form 4 allows the appraiser to make changes as required. However, to enable appraisees to add more documents to the interview, there is one more step:

• On the bottom of Form 4 (from previous step) – click on the "Enable Additional Documentation" button
• This creates a new tab, allowing the appraisee to add further documents to their appraisal as required

The reason for this is because once a Form 4 has been signed off, the submitted appraisal forms 1-3 are archived and cannot be changed, so the "resubmit" function is therefore disabled.

That is all you (local admin) need to do.  You will not be able to view any documents uploaded to the interview - that will remain confidential between appraiser and appraisee (same as submitted forms).

Check the interview status... you can only unlock a Form 4 if it has been signed off.

The SOAR Revalidation Dashboard is available to all admins, but we appreciate not all admins have this responsibility within their health boards.  The below guide is to aid those who do.

The Revalidation Dashboard provides details of doctors that are considered as "Ready for Revalidation" and those "Not Ready for Revalidation"; and is accessed via the "Revalidation Recommendation" in the menu on the left.

ROs (Responsible Officers) can 'batch' revalidate those on the Ready list.  Those on the 'Not ready' list will require individual reviews.

Default settings for 'Ready to Revalidate'

In order for a doctor to appear on the "Ready to Revalidate" list, they will have - in their current revalidation cycle appraisals:

• All '1' scorings in all the Core Elements in the 4 Domains 
• At least 1x '1' scored in MSF
• At least 1x '1' scored in PSQ
• Had no more than 1x 5A logged against them
• Had no 5B or 5C logged against them
• Have no "issues" logged in their declarations in their latest signed off appraisal
• Marked by their appraiser as 'on-track' for Revalidation in their latest signed off appraisal

Alternatively, as the Appraisal Lead / Administrators in your Health Board on SOAR, you have the function to move doctors to and from the Ready and Not Ready lists.

Revalidation via SOAR

• When ROs revalidate someone via SOAR, either via batch or individually, the recommendation sits in SOAR for 24 hours before it is sent to the GMC
• This gives them the opportunity to cancel and change the recommendation if required (last minute information made available to you, accidental clicks etc)
• Alternatively there is a 'Send now' button to skip the 24 hour wait
• Once the recommendation is sent to the GMC, they will process this as if the details had been entered directly on GMC Connect
• When a decision has been made, the GMC will update their records and SOAR will grab the information in automated overnight processes
• The information will be displayed on SOAR accordingly thereafter (recommendation accepted, rejected, why, etc)

IMPORTANT NOTE

• If the RO for your Health Board changes, please inform us ASAP
• Each Revalidation recommendation is linked to the GMC's recognised Responsible Officers
• If/when there is a change, we need to update both SOAR and GMC Connect (otherwise it may cause the recommendations to bounce)

Revalidation Recommendation (Dashboard)

Notes:

• You only have access to your sector's doctors (Primary or Secondary Care); ROs will have access to both
• When GMC receives/confirms the RO's recommendation, it is displayed in the Status and Date columns
• To move a doctor between the Ready and Not-Ready lists, click on doctors' name to individually review and action

Under a doctor's profile on SOAR, you can click on the 'Revalidation' tab where you can see, at a glance, whether a doctor has met the requirements to appear on the Ready list.

The RO Revalidation Readiness button can be used to move a doctor to or from the 'ready for revalidation' list and the 'not ready for revalidation' list.

• Core Elements A, B, C, E, F and G must have all '1'
• Core Elements D (both) must have at least one '1'
• No more than one 5A
• No 5B or 5C
• In latest appraisal, doctor needs to be marked as 'on-track' for revalidation;
• And have no issues in their self declarations

Summary

• Click on 'Revalidation Recommendation' to access the dashboard
• Dashboard will bring up those 'Ready for Revalidation' by default
• Unless you are the agreed RO proxy, you are not asked to Revalidate doctors, only your recommendations to the RO
• Those on the 'Ready' list will have either met all the default system requirements; or manually moved to this list
• Once recommendation is made on SOAR by the RO, they have 24 hours to change their mind
• SOAR will connect to GMC in automated overnight processes to check and see if the recommendation has been accepted (or not); and will update SOAR accordingly thereafter
• Please inform us if the RO in your Health Board changes

Any further queries please submit a helpdesk ticket, either via the black 'Help' box to the right of every page on SOAR, or email SOAR@nes.scot.nhs.uk

The Medical Appraisal and Revalidation Quality Assurance (MARQA) review is normally carried out by NES as sponsored by Scottish government.  To aid health boards with their numbers and checks, a "Prescribed search" function has been designed to show who, on a 31st March, is linked to a health board and from that who has/has not scheduled an appraisal.

To access this function, click on "Interviews" from the menu, then the "Prescribed Search" tab near the top:

1. Select the date in "Connection on" - make sure it's 31 March
2. Set the appraisal period - then click Search

This will bring up a list of appraisees who had an appraisee role with your health board on 31st March and whether they had an appraisal scheduled or not.

We strongly recommend you export the results to a spreadsheet and filter out / remove dental or public health users who are maybe not within the scope of the review.

The data will need sense-checked by yourselves but is intended as a tool to help you cross-check your area's data.  Any queries or issues please get in touch with a member of the team.

SOAR offers a number of reports in the "Reports" section (via menu on left).  If there's any reports missing that you feel would be beneficial please contact the helpdesk.

But in addition, did you know you could export the search results from Appraisees and Interviews pages into Excel for further analysing?  in the buttons underneath the search filters there is an "Export to Report" button which will export your searched results into Excel, which includes additional fields than those displayed on screen.