Frequently Asked Questions

PCSA Online is focussed on saving time and providing courses relevant to your needs. To allow you to find the courses you require there are numerous options of how to narrow down your search:

Search: Type in a key word relevant to your training requirements and we will bring up related courses

Location: Search in your local area to courses available online

Date: We understand the challenge of being available to focus on personal and career development that is why you can search between dates suitable to your availability

Profession: By selecting your current job role or even a role you plan to work towards will allow you to view all the courses relatable to that profession

*Don’t forget that any courses you see, if you don’t want to book in that moment then just add it to your wish list so you can view on your dashboard later

Once your PCN / practice has signed up you will be sent a link from your management team to register on the platform. The link will remain live for 72 hours so please register beforehand.

The registration will be approved by PCSA Online, you will be sent a notification. From there you will be able to login successfully and begin your primary care skills journey.

Practice administrator will be able to invite new users from their practice. To do this they need access ‘Practice Management’ in the left toolbar and then select ‘Invite Users’

The next step will be to add the email address or addresses of the nurses/AHP’s and click ‘Invite’. The recipient will then receive a direct email to register.

Using the left tool bar click ‘Practice Management’ and then click ‘Manage Users’. Using the 3 dots to the right of each user the administrator will be able to either delete a user to create space if somebody has left the practice or be able to edit any details on behalf of a user including job role or any changes to email addresses or names.

Go to Reports > Practice Skills. From here you will be able to filter the report if required. You can also export the data at the bottom of the page

A full list of areas your team as individuals wish to progress. There may be multiple nurses or AHP’s requiring the same training, or you may have some experts who can mentor others in particular areas.

Use this information as part of the 1-2-1 coaching and appraisals to set clear targets of helping your team members development.

This report will allow you to filter by job role, user or potentially even by PCN. It will allow you to have a clear view of your workforce through a traffic light report to easily identify areas which need to be developed to meet patient care needs or to bring in new roles to support the team and patients.

To upload certificates – Go to CPD > CPD log. On the right-hand side the top of the box click ‘choose file’ this will allow you to select the certificate of your choice. Once this has been selected, complete the rest of the log and then click ‘Log Hours’

To download certificates in any page they have been uploaded, click on the cloud next to the log and the certificate will upload

This is completely up to you. We try to encourage regular updates to save time looking back at records, but we understand that everybody has their own way or working

Choose the relevant option from the left toolbar via CPD. Click on the right-hand side ‘Choose File’ select the required document and then click the ‘Upload’ button.

Once uploaded this will appear central with the cloud symbol should you wish to access the document in the future.

‘My CPD/Revalidation’ has been created to save you time, and to keep track of your progress towards your professional revalidation requirements.

A skills assessment allows you to provide an honest reflection of your experience currently for individual area of the role. There may be parts of the role that are no relevant, but to answer each skill will allow for us to help identify any training needs you have. For each area subject you will be required to answer your skill level and your interest level.

What is a skills assessment? A skills assessment allows you to provide an honest reflection of your experience currently for individual area of the role. There may be parts of the role that are no relevant, but to answer each skill will allow for us to help identify any training needs you have. For each area subject you will be required to answer your skill level and your interest level.

Skill levels are rated between 1 to 5

• Novice: Has no experience in this area at all
• Beginner: Starting to learn a skill or take part in an activity
• Competent:  Having the necessary ability, knowledge, or skill to do something successfully
• Proficient:  Competent or skilled in doing or using something
• Expert: very knowledgeable about or skillful in a particular area

Interest levels will be rated between 1 to 3

• No interest
• Interested
• Very Interested

You will be required to complete every subject area for you to Save the form successfully. This will then create a summary in Skills > Summary

You can complete or edit the skills assessment as much as many times as you wish. We recommend that at minimum this is completed once a year.

Your skills summary will update when a skills assessment is completed and saved. This will highlight 3 key areas:

Top Skills: This is where you have rated yourself Proficient to Expert. There may be an opportunity for you to upskill or mentor your colleagues or students in these areas

Skills to Improve: These are the skills you have highlighted yourself at Novice or Beginner. There may be some areas here you may seek training or advice or to discuss with your manager

Skills Interests: These are the skills you rated yourself moderately low on but have expressed an interest in developing. These make up some key areas in your professional development that you should be seeking opportunities to learn

Your line manager will be able to run a “Practice Skills” report to facilitate any learning that you may require after you have completed your self assessment. This information will not be shared without your consent with anyone else.

This report will give managers with administration access the ability to view all team members, their skills that they have related novice and beginner but have expressed an interest or high interest in. This report is ideal for 1-2-1’s and appraisals when discussing future objectives and training needs.

Traffic light system report to highlight strengths and areas for development.

Skills & Training Interests – This will give the line manager an overview of their teams training needs.

Practice Skills – This will give the line manager an overview report using the traffic light system of your team’s competencies to highlight opportunities to develop and progress.