Access problems with NHS Appraisal site

GPs are reporting problems accessing the NHS Appraisal Toolkit, which was restored by the Department of Health last week following concerns about the security of the system.

Around 10,000 GPs a day are attempting to log-on to the site as their deadlines for appraisals approach. But they have faced problems with passwords, the speed of the site and saving information entered.

The site has issued advice to doctors and apologised for the problems experienced by some users.

It said: “A number of users have the first character of their username as a capital – you may wish to try this even if it used to work without the capital. If you have a space in your username you may also find the name after the space also has a capital as its first character.”

The toolkit team told doctors that those who did not need to use the website at the moment might want to upgrade their password when the site was less busy.

It added: “We are aware that some users are experiencing problems with the speed of the ATK website and upgrading their passwords. We are very sorry but the site is slow because there are currently five times more people than usual trying to use it."

A Department of Health spokesperson told EHI Primary Care that the large number of GPs accessing the Toolkit was slowing the site but that the supplier, SCHIN, was taking steps to resolve this.

She added: “There is a backlog of queries, most of this relates to users who have forgotten their password. SCHIN are working through this current backlog to restore normal service.”

She said the length of time allowed before saving was necessary had been changed from 50 minutes to 20 minutes, in line with information security standards, and that on first log-in users were asked to change their password and add security questions.