SARD launches new Appraisal Month Functionality

We have added Appraisal Month functionality to SARD Medical Revalidation, making the recording and tracking of appraisal compliance more efficient for all users. Administrators can set custom compliance windows around a fixed appraisal date and set and manage appraisal exemptions. SARD customer support can also extend and override appraisal due dates upon request.

This functionality is available free to all SARD Medical Revalidation clients. Please contact Rob Green on 07741609174 if you would like it switched on.

Features

Provides an overview of appraisal history and anticipated future appraisals

The system records and displays historical and anticipated future appraisals, periods of exemption and formal extension in one clear, year-by-year view.

This facilitates the categorisation of appraisals as required by NHS England. Users and administrators can see clearly when each appraisal was expected and completed.

Set-up Appraisal Month data before making live

Administrators can import (from csv), access, check and edit appraisal month data for accuracy and compliance before the functionality is made more widely accessible.

###Administrators can set appraisal months for all users and configure a custom compliance window with associated Red/Amber/Green (RAG) status according to your requirements The SARD default is set at three months, with the window ending on the last day of the appraisal month. This is to tie in with NHS England guidance within the Annual Organisational Audit, that all Category 1 Appraisals should be completed within the three months preceding the due date.

Categorisation of appraisal as featured in NHS England Annual Organisational Audit (AOA) End of year questionnaire 2015-16

Compliance windows can be set to match any organisation’s specific appraisal requirements. One Trust using SARD has this set at two weeks leading up the the deadline, whereas another has it set at six months, with three months either side of a user’s appraisal month end.

Compliance RAG status is shown on SARD as follows:

Previous appraisal has been completed and next compliance window is not yet open	GREEN (compliant)
Date currently falls within the designated compliance window	AMBER (still compliant)
Appraisal is completed within the compliance window	GREEN (compliant)
Appraisal not completed within the compliance window	RED (non-compliant)

###Users remain linked to their fixed appraisal month, regardless of when an appraisal is physically completed Previously, when an appraisal was complete, SARD automatically set the next appraisal as due for completion one year later. If users completed their appraisals consistently late, or if one was missed, then there was a risk of having an insufficient number completed within a revalidation period.

Example - Dr Quinn

Dr Quinn’s appraisal month is April. Her appraisal for 2016 is due for completion before 30 April 2016.

Previously…

She actually completes the appraisal in September 2016 and therefore believes her next appraisal is due in September 2017. In 2017, she does not actually complete her appraisal until November and when her revalidation is due in April 2018, she does not have five complete appraisals due to time slippage.

Now…

With the new functionality, Dr Quinn’s next appraisal will still be automatically set as due for completion by 30 April 2017 and then 30 April 2018, minimising this risk.

###SARD will automatically allocate an appraisal to the fixed appraisal month it is completed nearest to As shown above, Dr Quinn’s appraisal completed in September 2016, is allocated as the appraisal for April 2016, making it clear for both Dr Quinn, her appraiser and organisation administrators that 2017 and 2018 appraisals are still to be completed.

An appraisal completed in November 2017 would actually automatically attach to April 2018. This can be moved 2017 but will also flag up a period of non-compliance, alerting both Dr Quinn and all involved, that a further appraisal before 30 April 2018 is still needed.

###Administrators can set appraisal exemption periods, allowing the user to maintain full appraisal compliance in special circumstances Example - Dr Davidson

Dr Davidson’s appraisal month is June. She is on maternity leave from 31st May 2016 to 29th March 2017. Her administrator can set an exemption period on SARD to cover these dates and she will remain compliant without completing an appraisal in June 2016.

An exemption will count for any compliance window it covers. In this example, Dr Quinn would be exempt for her 2016 appraisal only. However, if she were on maternity leave from 1 April 2016 – 1 April 2017, then she would be marked as exempt for both the 2016 and 2017 years.

###SARD’s customer support team can extend/override appraisal dues dates upon request It is now possible to override the appraisal deadline in order to extend a user’s compliance window. A user will then still be marked as appraisal compliant, even if they have missed their original appraisal deadline. SARD stores this information, so that a formal record of appraisal extensions can be seen.

Currently appraisal deadlines can only be amended by the SARD Customer Support team.

We look forward to seeing these improvements working within your organisation over the coming months and hope they will provide the positive impact we anticipate.