Appraisers page
Information on a doctor or a practice
Find an inspection report (CQC)
GP Patient survey (NHS England)
Look up GMC number (GMC)
Patient reviews (NHS Choices)
Performers list checker (NHS England)
GP Patient survey (NHS England)
Look up GMC number (GMC)
Patient reviews (NHS Choices)
Performers list checker (NHS England)
indemnity insurance for appraisers
The Deputy Medical Director of NHS England said,
"Appraisers who are doctors also need to be members of a suitable medical defence organisation, as these bodies provide the protection needed should their licence be called into question through appraisal work.
The MDU, MPS and MDDUS have confirmed that they offer indemnity at no extra cost* to appraisers when a doctor’s appraisal work is a relatively minor component of their overall professional practice.
While the latter point is helpful, in reality, given the cover extended by NHS England, it is now very unlikely that an appraiser will need to use indemnity cover from their medical defence organisation."
*some indemnity organisations have subsequently introduced charges.
"Appraisers who are doctors also need to be members of a suitable medical defence organisation, as these bodies provide the protection needed should their licence be called into question through appraisal work.
The MDU, MPS and MDDUS have confirmed that they offer indemnity at no extra cost* to appraisers when a doctor’s appraisal work is a relatively minor component of their overall professional practice.
While the latter point is helpful, in reality, given the cover extended by NHS England, it is now very unlikely that an appraiser will need to use indemnity cover from their medical defence organisation."
*some indemnity organisations have subsequently introduced charges.
Indemnity for NHS England appraisers (ROAN 31, June 2019)
The appraiser contract (2019) states in section 11.4,
"NHS England shall indemnify the Consultant against any personal civil liability that the Consultant may owe arising out of or in connection with any loss, damage or injury covered by NHS England's membership of the NHS Litigation Authority Third Party Liability Scheme. The Consultant shall inform NHS England promptly in relation to any potential liability. This indemnity is limited to:
- acts or omissions on the part of the Consultant in connection with the performance of the Services that are a consequence of the Consultant acting on behalf of NHS England;
- acts or omissions on the part of the Consultant that are not a consequence of the Consultant acting recklessly; and
- the amount received by NHS England as a result of making a claim in respect of the relevant liability pursuant to the NHS England's membership of the NHS Litigation Authority's Third Party Liability Scheme."
Appraiser pay and superannuation
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Change of address? Notify the administration team or your payments may be delayed! |
NHS pensions website includes:
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Appraiser payment and superannuation algorithm 2021-2022 (NHSE, April 2021)
Locum A forms deadline.
All Locum A Forms need to be received by PCSE no later than 10 weeks from the date that the last appraisal took place in that month.
Any Locum A Forms received after the 10-week period will not have the pension contributions attributed to the doctor’s pension pot, and will be rejected by PCSE. Please contact PCSE if you experience any issues in meeting this deadline.
Submit Locum A and B forms online.
Explanation and "How to" videos.
PCSE Online login.
Locum GP Appraisers should upload their current month’s Locum A Form and select the ‘RMS’ tab for submission (not the ‘Practice’ one).
This will generate a notification alert to the nominated approver.
The approver can then approve or reject the Locum A Form (there will be a free text box for the rejection reason).
Where the form is approved it will generate a completed Locum A Form which will be sent to the Locum GP Appraiser to accompany their Locum B Form and contributions to PCSE.
If the form is rejected, the Locum GP Appraiser will need to submit a new form with the requested details included and upload it again, using the ‘RMS’ selection key.
Total Reward Statement
If a GP appraiser is unable to view their TRS they should contact NHS Pensions for an up-to-date statement over the phone – via tel: 0333 330 1346.
If your summary is not correct, please raise a query with PCSE through the online form.
More information can be found at https://pcse.england.nhs.uk/services/gp-pensions/.
Training for appraisers in the South West
Each Appraiser should attended at least one ‘regional’ network meeting during the year.
Please attend at least three Appraiser meetings, consisting of both regional and locality meetings (with your Senior Appraiser).
Please attend at least three Appraiser meetings, consisting of both regional and locality meetings (with your Senior Appraiser).
Regional Meetings
All Appraisers should please pre-book their places on the regional support meetings via RMS.
The format of these meetings (e.g. virtual or face-to-face) will be agreed in advance and TEAMS links/venue details will be published later.
The next regional meetings will be in January and February 2024.
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Training videos, slides, handouts and websites for appraisers can be found on the Training Materials page.
Revalidation management system (RMS)
Log on to the Revalidation Management System (NHS England)
Read the RMS user guide (W & S Yorkshire & Bassetlaw Commissioning Support Unit, January 2014) and the Simple guide to RMS (NHSE SW, June 2021).
How to view last year's documents in RMS (Simon Barton, 2019)
Guide to setting the number of appraisal allocations (NHSE SW, September 2021)
The “Significant Events" section on RMS should generally be ticked “Yes” i.e. a discussion about whether there has been a significant event has taken place and then the notes section should be completed e.g. “No significant event in this year” (or a description of the significant event if there has indeed been one).
Read the RMS user guide (W & S Yorkshire & Bassetlaw Commissioning Support Unit, January 2014) and the Simple guide to RMS (NHSE SW, June 2021).
How to view last year's documents in RMS (Simon Barton, 2019)
Guide to setting the number of appraisal allocations (NHSE SW, September 2021)
The “Significant Events" section on RMS should generally be ticked “Yes” i.e. a discussion about whether there has been a significant event has taken place and then the notes section should be completed e.g. “No significant event in this year” (or a description of the significant event if there has indeed been one).
Surveys
If the patient and colleague feedback surveys and reflections are embedded within the current appraisal summary, please ensure that they are easily accessible to view.
There have been some problems opening surveys in RMS so please check they can be opened and read after you have uploaded them.
If they are not included in the appraisal document, please upload them directly onto RMS to accompany the post appraisal summary.
Please also write a note in the output summary on RMS outlining:
This is a great help to the admin team when undertaking the revalidation checks.
There have been some problems opening surveys in RMS so please check they can be opened and read after you have uploaded them.
If they are not included in the appraisal document, please upload them directly onto RMS to accompany the post appraisal summary.
Please also write a note in the output summary on RMS outlining:
- the type of survey (e.g. 14Fish),
- number of responses
- date of the surveys
- the year of the cycle in which they were completed.
This is a great help to the admin team when undertaking the revalidation checks.
Revalidation ready
Please write ‘appears Revalidation Ready’ in the appraisal output summary ‘Notes’ box
next to the MAG 5 statement. This is a great help to the Team when doing the prerevalidation
checks. (NHSE SW, March 2019)
Uploading documents
Only these file types may be uploaded to RMS:
- Word DOC/DOCM/DOCX
- Excel XLS/XLSM/XLSX
- JPEG
- TXT
- PNG
- BMP
- GIF
If you encounter problems uploading a MAG form, please notify your administration team.
Quality improvement for appraisers
Guidance on how appraisers should be recruited, trained and assessed was revised in 2014 as a main document and as appendices.
Appraiser Handbook (University of East Anglia, 2015)
What makes a good PDP? (NHSE SSW, March 2014)
Guidance For Appraisers on Completion of Appraisal Output Statements (March 2013)
PROGRESS QA tool v2 (August 2015)
Quality assurance of appraisal: guidance notes
(NHS England, 29 April 2016)
Info Sheet 27: Keeping appraisal submissions proportionate (ROAN, 2019)
Example appraisal summary (NHSE SW, August 2020)
Appraiser Handbook (University of East Anglia, 2015)
What makes a good PDP? (NHSE SSW, March 2014)
Guidance For Appraisers on Completion of Appraisal Output Statements (March 2013)
PROGRESS QA tool v2 (August 2015)
Quality assurance of appraisal: guidance notes
(NHS England, 29 April 2016)
Info Sheet 27: Keeping appraisal submissions proportionate (ROAN, 2019)
Example appraisal summary (NHSE SW, August 2020)
Useful free software
It is the doctor's responsibility to submit documents to the appraiser in an electronic format which he/she can open.
Appraisers may find the following FREE tools useful for opening files.
Appraisers may find the following FREE tools useful for opening files.
The NHS has purchased licenses for all staff to access the Microsoft Office 365 suite of programmes, including:
Word, Excel, PowerPoint, One Drive, Teams, OneNote, SharePoint, Delve, Lists, Project and Stream.
Just go to https://www.office.com/ and sign in using the same details you use to sign in to your nhs.net email account.
ROAN Info Sheet 29: NHS.net email addresses for NHS England appraisers
Word, Excel, PowerPoint, One Drive, Teams, OneNote, SharePoint, Delve, Lists, Project and Stream.
Just go to https://www.office.com/ and sign in using the same details you use to sign in to your nhs.net email account.
ROAN Info Sheet 29: NHS.net email addresses for NHS England appraisers
File extensions |
Software |
.pdf |
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.doc, .docx, .txt |
Microsoft Word (see above) |
.xls, .xlxs, .csv |
Microsoft Excel (see above) |
.ppt, .pptx |
Microsoft PowerPoint (see above) |
.mpp |
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.PAGES |
Step 1 - Save the file to your desktop Step 2 - Right Click the file -> select 'Rename' Step 3 - Replace ".PAGES" with ".zip" at end of the file and hit enter Step 4 - Open zipped folder (double click) and view contents |
.webarchive |
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Almost everything else including .jpg, .jpeg |
Miscellaneous
Appraisal & Revalidation Newsletter (NHSE SW, February 2019)
Appraisal and Revalidation Newsletter (NHSE SW, April 2019)
Appraisal and Revalidation Bulletin (NHSE SW, April 2019)
Appraisal and Revalidation newsletter (for appraisers) (NHSE SW, October 2022)
Complaints and Investigations – Soft Skills for Doctors and Investigators to Bear in Mind (Dr Andrew Tressider, January 2021)
Cause for concern
If issues arise that indicate that the performer may be impaired, NHS England can use its powers to prevent a performer from working in order to protect patients from harm.
The Framework for managing performer concerns (NHSE, 2018) sets out:
The Medical Director has overarching responsibility for the operation of this framework.
Every case is dealt with according to individual circumstances.
The Framework for managing performer concerns (NHSE, 2018) sets out:
- the process for considering applications and decision making for inclusion, inclusion with conditions and refusals to be undertaken by NHS England’s local offices;
- the process by which teams identify, manage and support primary care performers where concerns arise; and
- the application of NHS England’s powers to manage suspension, imposition of conditions and removal from the performers lists.
The Medical Director has overarching responsibility for the operation of this framework.
Every case is dealt with according to individual circumstances.
If the concern raises serious and immediate patient safety issues, immediate action should be taken to safeguard patients and the performer.
The appraiser should immediately contact the appraisal lead or appraisal and revalidation manager or Head of Professional Standards for advice regarding appropriate next steps.
If you have a cause for concern about a GP speak to the Responsible Officer for your region, or his/her nominated deputy.
Data protection obligations
The Consultant contract 2019 states explicitly that NHS England is the data controller and appraisers are data processors under the Data Protection Act 2018.
This means we do NOT have to pay a data protection fee to the Information Commissioner but we do have certain obligations.
This means we do NOT have to pay a data protection fee to the Information Commissioner but we do have certain obligations.
Data security
The Consultant contract requires us to encrypt personal data (that includes any document where a living person can be identified e.g. a MAG form).
VeraCrypt is free software which can be used to encrypt a folder in which you can store all appraisal documents. Set up can be a bit confusing with talk of "volumes" and "containers" but just ignore the jargon and use all the default settings.
How to install and use VeraCrypt
We must only use an nhs.net account to email personal data.
Info Sheet 29: NHS.net email addresses for NHS England appraisers (ROAN, 2019)
We must delete data when we no longer need it.
"The Consultant shall not retain any Personal Data longer than is necessary to perform the Services under this Agreement.
At the written direction of NHS England, the Consultant shall delete or return Personal Data (and any copies of it) to NHS England on termination or expiry of the Agreement."
(Consultant contract Appendix to Schedule 2).
Files which are "deleted" or sent to the recycle bin can be recovered using dedicated software. To avoid this possibility use a file shredder which overwrites the file data. Some antivirus programmes have a file shredder incorporated within them. Or choose a dedicated free programme to do the job.
How long is "no longer than necessary"?
It would be reasonable to keep it until we receive confirmation that the appraisal documents have been received by NHS England on completion of the appraisal.
All copies of the data must be deleted including any emails which have appraisal documents attached.
In any case we must delete all personal data at the end of the "term", i.e. at the end of the year's contract.
where to appraise?
The appraisee may choose whether to have a face to face or a virtual appraisal.
The ideal place to conduct a face to face appraisal is in a professional setting e.g. the appraisee's consulting room, your consulting room or a meeting room in a practice.
If none of these is available contact your appraisals team for suggestions.
If none of these is available contact your appraisals team for suggestions.
"Please also be aware of the need to remain professional, to conduct the appraisal in a space where you will not be interrupted or overheard, and to be aware of the power dynamic so that the appraisee feels comfortable having their appraisal in your home environment."
If a face to face appraisal has been requested, this should be the doctor’s choice and should take place in a professional setting.
If it’s at the doctor’s home, you should notify your senior and the appraisal team, but it should not be at the appraiser’s home address.
If you undertake an appraisal in an appraisee’s home, please note this in the appraisal summary notes with a brief explanation as to why.
If it’s at the doctor’s home, you should notify your senior and the appraisal team, but it should not be at the appraiser’s home address.
If you undertake an appraisal in an appraisee’s home, please note this in the appraisal summary notes with a brief explanation as to why.
Appraisal and Revalidation Newsletter (NHSE SW, February 2023)
Disagreed output statements
If disagreeing an output statement the appraiser should inform the doctor to explain the reason and implications as soon as possible.
This will usually be during the appraisal itself, but if advice is sought or the disagreement comes after reflection on the discussion then the appraiser should contact the doctor to inform them and offer a discussion.
If disagreeing the 5th output statement and it isn't a GMC or PAG case that will be known to the Professional Standards Team then the appraiser should contact appraisal lead or appraisal and revalidation manager immediately.
This will usually be during the appraisal itself, but if advice is sought or the disagreement comes after reflection on the discussion then the appraiser should contact the doctor to inform them and offer a discussion.
If disagreeing the 5th output statement and it isn't a GMC or PAG case that will be known to the Professional Standards Team then the appraiser should contact appraisal lead or appraisal and revalidation manager immediately.
Devonwide wellbeing scheme
In response to the increasing pressure that GPs are under, NHS England is collaborating with partners from across Devon to offer a new programme of support for GPs, aimed identifying and supporting doctors under stress before their health or performance suffers.
You will now be able to access to a range of new support services, including wellbeing focused coaching, peer support groups and mindfulness training.
Of course, you will still be able to access all the existing services (such as the Practitioner Health Programme and support from the LMC).
In addition, under this new initiative GP appraisers are being encouraged to explore wellbeing with their appraisees, and are being provided with the guidance and resources to do this in a sensitive and supportive way.
Please use your appraisal as an opportunity to reflect upon and prioritise your own wellbeing.
We are all increasingly concerned about the wellbeing of our GP colleagues.
We know what fantastic work you all do, and the pressure you’re under.
It’s completely understandable to feel stressed at this difficult time for the NHS, and it’s ok not to be ok.
All we ask is that if you’re not ok, please do something about it: talk to colleagues, seek out the support you need.
Help is available.
If you’re having a difficult time, we believe that accessing support can make all the difference.
If you would like to know more about this programme, please email [email protected]
You will now be able to access to a range of new support services, including wellbeing focused coaching, peer support groups and mindfulness training.
Of course, you will still be able to access all the existing services (such as the Practitioner Health Programme and support from the LMC).
In addition, under this new initiative GP appraisers are being encouraged to explore wellbeing with their appraisees, and are being provided with the guidance and resources to do this in a sensitive and supportive way.
Please use your appraisal as an opportunity to reflect upon and prioritise your own wellbeing.
We are all increasingly concerned about the wellbeing of our GP colleagues.
We know what fantastic work you all do, and the pressure you’re under.
It’s completely understandable to feel stressed at this difficult time for the NHS, and it’s ok not to be ok.
All we ask is that if you’re not ok, please do something about it: talk to colleagues, seek out the support you need.
Help is available.
If you’re having a difficult time, we believe that accessing support can make all the difference.
If you would like to know more about this programme, please email [email protected]
If you identify a doctor at appraisal who would like to access additional support, please email us on [email protected] with the doctor’s name and email address, stating what support they would like to access.
Please tell your appraisee that they will be sent a questionnaire for their (anonymised) feedback.
More information is available on this three-minute video.
If at any time in this appraisal year you would like to discuss how best to support a GP you’re appraising, or where best to signpost them, please email Vik Mohan on [email protected].
Your senior appraiser is also there to support you.
example letters to Appraisees
| example_introductory_email_2023_for_appraisee__lk_.pdf |
| example_retirement_email_.pdf |
| example_welcome_email.pdf |
Appraisal administration
The current appraisal format is here to stay and it’s important to document previous PDP reflections, CPD & QIA.
Protected time for the appraisal
There should be three hours of protected time for the appraisal discussion, if this has not been provided you should not carry out the appraisal and arrange another date.
March appraisals
If an appraisal takes place in March, please make sure that the writeup is completed promptly.
The admin team would ask that any March appraisals have their summaries agreed, signed off and uploaded within 7 days of the appraisal date please (rather than the usual 28 day period).
Failure to book an appraisal date
When there are three failed attempts to chase a doctor, please contact the admin team no later than two weeks before the end of the appraisal month.
Shifting the appraisal month.
Appraisers can move the appraisal 1-2 months before the allocated month or into the following month as long as it’s still in the same financial year.
Contact the admin team to ensure the changes are updated in RMS and there should be a minimum of 9 months between appraisal dates.
A postponement form should be completed by appraisee if the booked date is more than one month after the allocated appraisal month.
PDP tips
Consider these when reading pre-appraisal documentation and share suggestions using a guided approach, but it should be doctor led.
Feedback surveys.
Check that the majority of responses are from NHS patients and colleagues (and not from private work).
Protected time for the appraisal
There should be three hours of protected time for the appraisal discussion, if this has not been provided you should not carry out the appraisal and arrange another date.
March appraisals
If an appraisal takes place in March, please make sure that the writeup is completed promptly.
The admin team would ask that any March appraisals have their summaries agreed, signed off and uploaded within 7 days of the appraisal date please (rather than the usual 28 day period).
Failure to book an appraisal date
When there are three failed attempts to chase a doctor, please contact the admin team no later than two weeks before the end of the appraisal month.
Shifting the appraisal month.
Appraisers can move the appraisal 1-2 months before the allocated month or into the following month as long as it’s still in the same financial year.
Contact the admin team to ensure the changes are updated in RMS and there should be a minimum of 9 months between appraisal dates.
A postponement form should be completed by appraisee if the booked date is more than one month after the allocated appraisal month.
PDP tips
- Contact the doctor 1-2 weeks ahead of the appraisal to start thinking about PDP ideas to avoid last-minute discussions that the doctor has not considered in advance.
- Suggest 3+ PDP items (including one wellbeing topic)
- Can the appraisee commit?
- Is it a learning / development need?
- Is it relevant, meaningful & achievable?
Consider these when reading pre-appraisal documentation and share suggestions using a guided approach, but it should be doctor led.
Feedback surveys.
Check that the majority of responses are from NHS patients and colleagues (and not from private work).