quality education for a healthier scotland using “news alert” function for appraisers,...

Quality Education for a Healthier Scotland

Using “News Alert” Function

For Appraisers, Administration Teams & Appraisal Advisers

The “News Alert” Function

• This function allows you to contact groups of Appraisees, Appraisers, Local Admins, etc within SOAR – depending on your user role

• Administration Teams and Appraisal Advisers can send messages to various groups by selecting the specific user roles and Health Boards

• Appraisers can only send News Alerts to:– Their Appraisees– Admin team in their Health Board– Local Appraisal Adviser in their Health Board– Responsible Officer in their Health Board

Sending “News Alert” messages

Login to SOAR:1. Click on “Send a News Alert” from the menu2. Click on “Select Group” and choose the

group(s) you wish to send the News Alert to• Take care to select the group(s) of your intended

recipients• The groups you are able to select will vary depending on

your role

3. Give the message a subject heading• All headings are prefixed with “SOAR – ” when sent

4. Write the message5. Click “Send”

Once a Message is sent…

• SOAR will send an email notification to the selected user(s) with the full message

• Received messages can be viewed through “Received Alerts” from the menu on the left

• Sent messages can also be reviewed through “Sent News Alerts”

• Recipients cannot reply to a message sent by the “News Alert” function through SOAR– Alerts sent via SOAR@nes.scot.nhs.uk– Replies will go to do-not-reply-SOAR@nes.scot.nhs.uk

Rules and Guidance

• Email addresses are NOT displayed in the messages• If you want your recipients to reply to you, you need to

include your email address in the message– e.g. “Please email john@smith.uk to register your

interest” or “Email (jane@doe.uk) for further queries”• Once sent, an email will be sent to the recipients – but

they won’t know who else received the message• If sending group messages, as good practice, you should

consider beginning your message with something like:– “This message has been sent to all Primary Care Appraisees in NHS

Fife”– “This message has been sent to all Secondary Care Appraisers in NHS

Grampian” etc

• Previously sent News Alerts can be reviewed from the “Sent News Alerts” button

• Received News Alerts can be read by clicking on “Received Alerts”

• To start creating a new News Alert click on “Send a News Alert”

• Click in Subject line to add News Alert Subject

• Click in Message box to start typing message

• Click “Select Group” button to choose recipients of message

• Under the tab “Appraisees”, select users group(s) in your Health Board

• And/Or:• Click “Groups”

to choose more specific groups in and outwith your Health Board

• (this function not available to Appraisers)

• Select Group(s) by role and Health Board

• Click “OK” once group(s) chosen

• Number of recipients is displayed, but no email addresses are

• Click “Send” to send News Alert to selected group(s)

Further support• Medical Appraisal Scotland website:

– www.appraisal.nes.scot.nhs.uk– Resources, FAQ and other useful sections

• Local Administration teams:– Contact details on Medical Appraisal Scotland

• SOAR Helpdesk– Black “Help” box on right when logged into SOAR;– or SOAR@nes.scot.nhs.uk

• Due to capacity issues we are unable to offer telephone support– You can request a call back via the Helpdesk – but

we need detailed descriptions of the issue(s)