Frequently asked questions about ACP360

How much does ACP 360 cost?

Please visit the About ACP 360 webpage to see our current subscription rates.

You first need to submit an online application. Once you've registered your details with us, please telephone the ACP 360 team to pay and complete your registration. Select 'Join Us' from the ACP 360 system site, to start an application.

Can ACP 360 be used by SAS doctors who have completed their core training in psychiatry?

Yes.

Can ACP 360 be used by trainee doctors?

At present, ACP 360 is only intended for use by consultants and SAS doctors.

How long does the ACP 360 process take?

The process usually takes between 4-8 weeks.  If you reach the recommended number of returns, reports can be generated within 1 working day, once requested from the ACP 360 team. 

How many feedback responses do I need to collect before I can request my report?

ACP 360 offer a '270-degree' version of the assessment. The report will be compiled of feedback from colleagues and your self-assessment, excluding the patient feedback section.

How is free text feedback included?

Free text comments can complement the numerical feedback in the main report by giving you further insight into your strengths and areas for development. The experience from other multi-source feedback tools which use free text is that participants find this component of the assessment valuable and encouraging.

Both colleagues and patients are given the option to leave free text comments in their feedback.

Could unfair criticism from one colleague skew my results?

A high number of colleagues and patients complete assessments and their responses are aggregated. Negative responses from one person will not greatly affect the mean scores. Also, the ACP 360 report is just one part of the portfolio of information that will be considered at your appraisal.

Please be aware that we do not share individual colleague responses with participants.

All data is presented in aggregate form and individual questionnaires responses are not available.

How do I use the report as part of my appraisal?

The ACP 360 report should be included in the portfolio of information that you discuss with your appraiser. The discussion with your appraiser should consider the strengths and areas for development in a balanced way.

Could the results affect my appraisal?

No. The requirement for revalidation is likely to be participation in multi-source feedback, not the result itself. There is no ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ in ACP 360.  The inclusion of multi-source feedback in revalidation procedures is to encourage reflective practice, and to ensure that doctors are engaged in a process of identifying areas for improvement. The benchmarking information is there as a guide for you, and cannot be used as an assessment of whether you are fit to practice.

What else can I do with the results?

We recommend that you develop an action plan to address any issues that have been identified by the ACP 360 process. This might be part of a wider personal development plan agreed with your appraiser and/or peer group.

Some issues might also be taken into the job planning process with your clinical manager. For example, if it is agreed during the appraisal discussion that an unduly heavy workload is a factor affecting your results.

We recommend that you make a diary note to review your action plan and progress 6 months after appraisal. The action plan can then be further reviewed at your next appraisal meeting.

What if I enrol and don’t complete the process?

If you wish to withdraw from ACP 360 please contact us within 30 days of registration and we will offer you a full refund as long as you have not activated your account.

How have the ACP 360 results been gathered?

The report is based on questionnaire returns from the participant, a number of colleagues and patients.

The participant was asked to involve a sufficient number of colleagues (a recommended minimum of 13 returns) and of patients (a recommended minimum number of 25 returns) to obtain valid and reliable results.

The participant and their colleagues complete an online questionnaire and patients post them in paper form, or complete an online questionnaire.

We don’t know the identity of the colleagues or patients providing feedback.

How are colleague assessors selected?

Participants are able to self-select colleagues for their feedback.

Appraisers may wish to discuss the selection in advance of the participant's appraisal. Those chosen to provide feedback should be representative of the teams within which the participant works. They should include other consultants, doctors in training for whom they might be the clinical or educational supervisor, other medical staff such as GPs with whom they work closely, nursing staff, other clinical professionals and secretarial and admin and management staff.

The aim is to have a broad perspective from others on how well they are performing, and for them to highlight areas of good practice and areas for further development.

How and when will I receive the ACP 360 report?

This depends on how quickly feedback can be collected. Once the sufficient number of feedback responses have been received, a report can be generated by the system on the day of request. The ACP 360 process may take around 8 weeks.

The psychiatrist being assessed should add the ACP 360 report to their appraisal folder and provide this to their appraiser in good time and at least a week before the appraisal meeting.

The ACP 360 system allows psychiatrists to download a copy of their report or to send it directly to their assigned appraiser.

What should I do before the appraisal meeting?

The appraiser should take time to read through the report and note any domains in which the appraisee is scoring significantly outside the norms of the benchmark data.

Where there are extreme scores, it is important to check the number of returns for the items in that domain.

The appraiser may form some preliminary thoughts. However, interpretation of the results is a joint process between appraiser and appraisee. Remember that a score of 4 means that performance has been assessed as being moderately high (good) on the behaviour(s) covered by that item or domain.

Any score of 4 or above that means that patients and colleagues have high regard for the psychiatrist concerned.

How should I discuss the report in the appraisal meeting?

It is important to remember that some appraisees will be very anxious about this, particularly if they have never participated in multi-source feedback before.

The process is intended to be formative and the discussion should be positive. Its purpose is to help the participant to identify his or her strengths and areas that he or she might wish to work on as part of their personal and professional development.

The appraiser should stress the fact that ACP 360 is designed to encourage personal development, not to single out poor practice.

The ACP 360 assessment report should be considered as one part of the wider appraisal process and should not be considered in isolation. Items or domains where the number of colleague responses is below 13 or the number of patient responses is below 25 should be treated cautiously.

What else should I be encouraging the appraisee to do?

We recommend that you encourage the appraisee to develop an action plan to address any issues that have been identified by the ACP 360 process.

This should focus on two or three main areas rather than trying to encompass every aspect of the report. This action planning might be part of the appraisee’s wider personal development plan agreed with you as their appraiser and/or with the appraisee’s peer group.

You might encourage the appraisee to take some issues into the job planning process with their clinical manager. For example, if it is agreed during the appraisal discussion that an unduly heavy workload is a factor affecting their results.

We recommend that the appraisee makes a diary note to review their action plan and progress 6 months after appraisal. The action plan can then be further reviewed at the next appraisal meeting.

How often should psychiatrists undertake ACP 360?

You should discuss this with the appraisee, as needs may vary.

I cannot log on to the site to provide feedback

The online questionnaire can only be accessed via the unique link contained in the invitation email.

To enter the survey system, you must always use the link contained in this email invitation - you cannot type the address into the browser as it will not contain your security code.

If you have used the link and have then logged out, please close your internet browser and log in again by using the link contained inside your email invitation.

Please also:

• check for blank spaces before or after your email address (often a consequence of copying and pasting)
• check you are entering the same address that received the emailed invitation.

I have previously logged in successfully, but now I cannot get past the login screen

Please ensure that you use the link contained within the email invitation.

This link is unique to you and must be used in combination with the email address that received the invitation.

If you took a survey recently or have received several email invitations from different colleagues/psychiatrists then it is possible that your browser was not logged off the site.

Please clear your browsers cookies and try again using the link contained inside the email invitation.

I have completed an online questionnaire about a colleague but now wish to go in and change the scores

Once a questionnaire is submitted, it cannot be changed and only one questionnaire can be completed by a nominated colleague. This is to maintain the integrity of the data. Please contact the ACP 360 team if you have concerns.

I have not received the invitation email to provide feedback

Please check your junk mail folders. You may wish to advise your colleague/psychiatrist, to confirm they have your correct email address.

The most efficient way to collect and submit patient feedback is via the online questionnaire. Where possible, we encourage members to input patient email addresses in the relevant section of their ACP 360 Dashboard. Patients will then be emailed a link to complete their feedback online.

If it's not possible or appropriate to collect feedback in this way, you may print and distribute a paper version of the patient questionnaire. A copy can be downloaded from your ACP 360 Dashboard.

Please delegate the distribution and collection of printed patient questionnaires to an appropriate person, ensuring the feedback is treated confidentially and collected in a way that protects the anonymity of the patient.

Once collated, you can return printed patient questionnaires to the ACP 360 team by email. Please scan and email questionnaires as attachments to ACP360@rcpsych.ac.uk

If posting, copies should be retained until safe receipt is confirmed. Questionnaires can be returned individually or in bulk in a large envelope/package.

Please post to:

Confidential
ACP 360
The Royal College of Psychiatrists
Centre for Quality Improvement
21 Prescot Street
London, E1 8BB

Note: Questionnaires returned by post or email are manually entered onto the system and may take longer to confirm. Receipt of posted responses may be further affected by the College's hybrid working model, whereby staff are based at the College for only part of the week.

If you are still struggling to collect and submit your patient feedback, please contact the team for further advice by emailing ACP360@rcpsych.ac.uk or telephoning 0208 618 4029.