SOAR user guidance for Appraisees

1. Appraiser and appraisee agree meeting date/time/location outside of SOAR
   
   
2. Appraiser creates appraisal meeting on SOAR
   
   
3. Appraisee completes appraisal Forms 1-2 and 3 (this can be started any time throughout the year before meeting is created)
   
   
4. Appraisee submits completed forms and agrees to confidentiality statement
   
   
5. Appraisal meeting takes place
   
   
6. Appraiser drafts Form 4
   
   
7. Appraiser forwards Form 4 to appraisee for review and sign off
   
   
8. Process is completed whenever appraisee signs off Form 4
   
   
9. Automated email confirmation sent thereafter

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In Scotland, appraisers are assigned by health board teams to appraisees so you cannot self-select your own appraiser.

When you login to SOAR (in "Appraisee" role) there is an "Appraiser details" widget on the welcome dashboard that shows who your appraiser is and their contact details.  If for whatever reason you do not see this, please follow the below steps (after logging in as appraisee):

1. Click on My Details from the menu on the top
   
   
2. Click on the Current appraiser(s) tab

You can see who your Appraiser is, and their contact details from there.

If you are a Clinical Academic, your co-appraiser from the university should be listed on this page too - if it is not showing please contact your local admin team ASAP.

“Co-ordinators” are those who need to be informed of your appraisal but not involved with process (line manager, clinical director etc)

If the appraiser assignment is incorrect, contact your local Admin team for further assistance.

Please note:

• Appraiser assignment is organised locally within each health board
• Appraisees can request a change of appraiser if the assignment is not appropriate e.g. line manager, neighbours, socialise outside of work, in-laws, in a relationship etc
• Appraisees need to have at least two different appraisers in a 5-year revalidation cycle

When you login to SOAR (as appraisee) click on the "Current appraisal" tile on the page - this will take you to your draft appraisal forms.

The appraisal forms is split into different Supporting Information sections.  Please see SOAR user guide for more information and screenshots.

Appraisees are asked to upload all necessary documents in the corresponding Supporting Information sections and add their reflections or comments in the Comments box.

Please see SOAR user guide for more details.

Remember your appraiser will not be able to see your documents until you submit your forms. (See #5 below)

First, make sure your draft forms 1-3 are completed and all supporting information has been uploaded.  If you have problems submitting the forms, it is likely that a section is incomplete (check timeline function on dashboard).  The Health, Probity and Complaints/Critical Incidents statements must all be completed.

When all forms are completed, follow steps below to submit for sharing with appraiser:

1. Click on My Dashboard from the menu on the left
   
   
2. From here you should see your appraisal timeline - if you have completed Forms 1-3, there should be red text saying Go to Submit Page. Click on this text to go to appraisal details page
   
   
3. Scroll to the bottom of the details page, where you will see the Accept Confidentiality button and the Submit Appraisal Forms buttons - just click on both and that's it

Why might I want to re-submit?

You will have already submitted your appraisal forms, but wish to add further documents, or amend appraisal forms.

• It could be at the appraiser’s request; or
• You submitted your forms without your MSF or PSQ reports; or
• You amended your proposed PDP

Re-submitting will remove your previously submitted forms/documents, and replace with a
refreshed version based on the current state of your draft appraisal forms.

To resubmit your appraisal forms, make sure you have made all the changes as needed.  When ready:

1. Click on Current appraisal from the appraisee home page
   
   
2. You should see a "Send to appraiser" button near top right of the screen
   
   
3. Click on this and follow the onscreen instructions to resubmit

I can't re-submit...?

If Form 4 has been forwarded to you, you will not be able resubmit your forms until you return the Form 4 to your appraiser first (via Change Request function - see below #7)

You will NOT be able to resubmit your forms if you are trying to do so AFTER the appraisal was completed (i.e. Form 4 was signed off).  

You can only add further documents to your appraisal at this point (see the section "Adding documents after appraisal" #8).

When the Form 4 is forwarded by the appraiser, the appraisee will receive an email notification with a direct link to it for review and approval.  Alternatively you can also access the forwarded Form 4 via the below steps:

1. Login to SOAR as appraisee and click on Current appraisal tile
   
   
2. If the appraiser has forwarded the Form 4, you will see the option Approve Form 4 or make Change requests at the top of the page - click on either link.
   
   
3. This will take you to the Form 4 page in PDF format.
   
   
4. Approve button is towards the bottom of page - click on this if you are satisfied with the content as drafted by your appraiser and the appraisal process is concluded
   
   
5. If you wish to make a change request, click the Change Request button instead and detail what you wish to be edited. Form 4 will then be made available to the appraiser for further editing.  It will be returned to you for review and sign off once appraiser has made the changes
   
   

Please note:

• Form 4 is a summary document of the appraisal discussions used by appraisees as proof of appraisal - please ensure you are happy with the content before approving
• For quality assurance purposes, only the appraiser can draft the Form 4
• The signed off Form 4 can be exported in PDF format via the "Export to PDF" button at top of Form 4 function only enabled after Form 4 is approved)

When Form 4 has been signed off – the appraisal is marked as completed and all appraisal
forms and documents submitted are archived.  No changes to the submitted appraisal forms or documents can be changed beyond this point.

However, it is possible to request for additional documentation to be added instead.

1. Form 4 will need to be unlocked and the "Additional documentation" function enabled - the request for this will need to be from the appraiser to the local admin team.  Please liaise with both parties to initiate the process (when it has been unlocked, you will receive email confirmation).
   
   
2. Navigate to Current appraisal 
   
   
3. You will see a new action for Additional Documentation - click on this.
   
   
4. Upload any additional files as required - items already submitted to appraisal will not be available for selection.
   
   
5. Click Notify Appraiser when finished.
   
   
6. Appraiser will receive email, requesting them to review the new files, edit Form 4, and re-forward to you for sign off again.

1. Login to SOAR (in Appraisee role)
   
   
2. From the menu on the top, click on Appraisal History
   
   
3. From the list shown, click on the corresponding icon on the Edit column on the left to get into that appraisal's details
   
   
4. From the appraisal's details page, click on the Form 4 tab along the top
   
   
5. Underneath the tabs, click on the Export to PDF button
   
   
6. You can print or email the downloaded PDF from there

Form 4 must be signed off before a PDF can be created.

You can also do the same for submitted forms by navigating to the Submitted forms tab in step 4 above.

The feedback forms are created automatically when the appraiser has created the draft Form 4, and it is past the appraisal date on SOAR.

It will be available for 8 weeks, after which it will be disabled. SOAR will send email reminders after 6 and 7 weeks.

1. Login to SOAR (in Appraisee role)
   
   
2. From the menu on the top, click on Appraisal History
   
   
3. From the list shown, click on the corresponding icon on the Edit column on the left to get into that appraisal's details
   
   
4. From the appraisal's details page, click on the Feedback form 6a tab along the top
   
   
5. Complete the form from here and submit button at bottom of the page.

How the (anonymised) feedback is used:

• Primary care appraisers are required to undergo annual performance reviews with their Appraisal Leads - SOAR provides anonymised reports to both for discussion
• Secondary care appraisers have access to the same anonymised report which they will use to reflect on as part of their own whole-practice appraisal
• Appraisal Leads and NES can review the collated anonymised reports for improving processes
• NES uses the anonymised comparable data for reporting purposes
• None of the reports are shared with third party agencies

Appraisal Period is used to log WHEN an appraisal took place in fiscal years (April to March) – rather than what materials were discussed.

This is to satisfy Revalidation requirements and allows us to track whether an appraisee has
been engaging in their annual appraisals.

We expect appraisal discussions to be centred around material within last 12 months/since
last appraisal.

For example:

• If an appraisal took place on 12th March 2023, it would fall under the Appraisal Period of 2022/2023
• If an appraisal took place on 8th April 2023, it would fall under the Appraisal Period of 2023/2024

An appraiser can overwrite/ignore this message in instances of late appraisals (typically in April/May time).

If you are unsure about this, please check with your health board admin teams in the first instance.

When a user leaves their NHS Scotland health board, the local admin team will go in and archive their SOAR account.  This does not mean the user will lose access to their appraisal history/records.

So long as you still have your Turas account, archived users can access SOAR to their appraisal history; from there the user can navigate to individual appraisals and its relevant appraisal forms/documents to download.

Although trainee and appraisal profiles are SOAR are separate and not linked, it is now possible for users to link these profiles via the Turas login.

Login to SOAR as you normally would, click on My details, and then Turas account.  Follow the onscreen instructions and you will eventually be redirected to the old SOAR login page - enter the SOAR login details for your appraisal account.

Thereafter the two will be linked.

The Appraisal Co-ordinator role on SOAR is given to those who need to be informed of a user's appraisal progress (via Form 4 sign off emails), but not necessary involved with the process.

Typically this will be a doctor's line manger, AMD, CD etc.  More commonly though, this is used by dental admin colleagues to admin dental users on SOAR.

The Appraisal Co-ordinator role has the same functionality of a Health Board administrator but they are restricted to only the individual doctors linked (by a Health board Admin).

Information is who has been linked to your account is available under My details.