Appendix C Appraisal and professional portfolio toolkit
Tool C1 twelve week preparation plan
Begin early enough to correct scope and access problems without turning the final week into document collection.
Twelve to nine weeks before:
- confirm appraiser, date, designated body and responsible officer connection;
- review the whole scope of practice, including separate employers and professional roles;
- check which supporting information is due and which evidence cycle applies;
- request missing feedback, authorised activity information or role confirmation; and
- identify any active process requiring separate advice.
Eight to five weeks before:
- select proportionate evidence across the whole scope;
- update the previous personal development plan honestly;
- write concise reflections focused on learning and change;
- remove unnecessary identifiers and check sharing permissions; and
- discuss reasonable adjustments or practical support early.
Four to two weeks before:
- complete the required submission on the approved system;
- check that attachments open and dates are correct;
- explain gaps rather than filling them with weak material;
- identify three matters that need a genuine appraisal conversation; and
- retain confirmation of submission.
After appraisal:
- read the summary before agreeing it;
- correct factual inaccuracies promptly;
- record the personal development plan and dependencies;
- preserve the agreed output in an authorised location; and
- schedule actions and the next evidence review.
Tool C2 whole practice scope record
Role or appointment: ________________________________________
Organisation and nation: ____________________________________
Dates and working pattern: __________________________________
Clinical or professional duties: _____________________________
Governance, supervision and indemnity arrangements: __________
Information included in this appraisal: ______________________
Information not yet available, with reason: __________________
Material change or risk to discuss: __________________________
Repeat this record for every place in which a licence is used, including occasional and independent work. If a role has ended, record its end date and relevant unresolved follow-through.
Tool C3 core evidence index
Create one entry for each useful item. The index may point to an approved location rather than contain the document itself.
Evidence identifier: ________________________________________
Activity title and dates: ___________________________________
Scope or role concerned: ____________________________________
Your contribution: __________________________________________
What the item directly demonstrates: _________________________
Possible purpose: appraisal / job plan / progression / recruitment / Portfolio Pathway / other
Source location and access restriction: ______________________
Status: draft / approved / superseded / verification required
Permission or anonymisation action: __________________________
Missing complementary evidence: _____________________________
Review or archive date: _____________________________________
Tool C4 structured reflection
Use the event or information as a prompt for learning, not as an invitation to reproduce confidential detail.
What was the professional situation, described without unnecessary identifiers?
____________________________________________________________
What did I notice, decide or contribute?
____________________________________________________________
What evidence or feedback challenged my first interpretation?
____________________________________________________________
What did I learn about my practice, team or system?
____________________________________________________________
What changed, or what will I test next?
____________________________________________________________
How will I know whether the change is useful and sustained?
____________________________________________________________
What should remain a separate incident, complaint, employment or legal response?
____________________________________________________________
Tool C5 PDP builder
Development need: ___________________________________________
Why it matters to current or intended scope: _________________
Specific action by the doctor: _______________________________
Opportunity, time, supervision or resource required: _________
Person responsible for providing that support: ______________
Evidence of progress: _______________________________________
Target and interim review dates: _____________________________
Alternative if the opportunity is unavailable: ______________
Outcome at review: complete / partly complete / changed / discontinued
Learning and next decision: __________________________________
Avoid making attendance the outcome unless attendance itself is the genuine need. A stronger outcome explains what new capability, change in practice or tested contribution should result. Preserve dependencies so that an organisational failure to provide agreed access is not rewritten as personal non-achievement.
Tool C6 portfolio maintenance cycle
Each quarter:
- update scope and appointment changes;
- index a small number of meaningful items;
- record contribution and outcome while they can still be verified;
- request authorised summaries before access is lost;
- review evidence gaps against intended destinations; and
- remove unnecessary duplicates through the approved process.
At career change:
- separate personal professional records from organisational records;
- arrange lawful retention or later access;
- obtain factual confirmation of roles and contributions;
- export agreed appraisal outputs in a readable form;
- check future appraisal and responsible-officer connection; and
- update the portfolio so former responsibilities do not appear current.
The portfolio is ready when it supports an honest answer efficiently. Volume is not a completion measure. Appraisal acceptance does not prove that the same item meets a recruitment or Portfolio Pathway standard.
Tool C7 evidence quality review
Select one important claim and test the chain supporting it.
Claim stated in one sentence: ________________________________
Primary record of the activity: ______________________________
My identifiable contribution: ________________________________
Result or present status: ____________________________________
Independent confirmation and basis of knowledge: ____________
Learning or change in practice: ______________________________
Limitation that a fair reader should know: ___________________
Next evidence needed: ________________________________________
Strong verbs require specific support. “Led”, “designed”, “implemented”, “assessed” and “supervised” are different claims. If the evidence shows contribution rather than sole leadership, change the verb. If a result belongs to a team, describe the team result and your part in it.
Tool C8 confidentiality and sharing check
Before copying or uploading any material, ask:
- Does it contain direct or indirect patient identifiers?
- Could a colleague, complainant or small service be recognised from the combination of facts?
- Is the document an organisational record, and do I have authority to retain or share it?
- Can an approved aggregate summary demonstrate the point instead?
- Does the recipient require the whole document or only an extract?
- Is the transfer method approved and access appropriately restricted?
- Has the material been checked after redaction rather than assumed safe?
Document and intended recipient: _____________________________
Permission or lawful route: __________________________________
Identifiers or contextual clues removed: _____________________
Approved location and retention review: ______________________
Do not place sensitive material into a public website, general-purpose browser form or unapproved artificial-intelligence service. Anonymisation is not achieved merely by removing a name if the remaining facts permit re-identification. Where doubt remains, seek information-governance advice before copying.
Tool C9 appraisal conversation brief
The submission provides evidence; the brief protects the purpose of the conversation.
Three matters I need to think through:
1. _________________________________________________________
2. _________________________________________________________
3. _________________________________________________________
Change in scope or responsibility: ___________________________
Success or difficulty I may be underplaying: _________________
Feedback that requires exploration: __________________________
Support or development that depends on my employer: __________
Matter that belongs to another process: ______________________
The appraiser can help reflection and development but cannot necessarily determine a contractual dispute, investigate an incident or promise an employment resource. Name these boundaries so that the appraisal summary records an appropriate action rather than an apparent resolution.
Tool C10 closing an evidence year
At the end of the cycle, create a short index of agreed outputs, completed objectives, incomplete work and material carried forward. Explain why an item remains open. Archive superseded drafts according to organisational rules, and retain the approved version or a lawful reference to it. Confirm that links work outside the soon-to-close appraisal year.
Year reviewed: ______________________________________________
Most important demonstrated change: __________________________
Objective carried forward and reason: ________________________
Evidence requiring future confirmation: ______________________
Scope change for next year: __________________________________
Date of next quarterly review: _______________________________
A concise closing record protects continuity when the appraiser, employer or platform changes. It also prevents an unfinished project from being presented next year as either a new activity or an unexplained failure.
Tool C11 evidence selection test
Before adding an item to a submission, answer five questions:
1. Which requirement or appraisal discussion does it support?
2. What does it demonstrate directly, and what requires explanation?
3. Is it current enough for this purpose?
4. May it lawfully and professionally be shared in this form?
5. Would a shorter authorised summary answer the question better?
Item: _______________________________________________________
Decision or discussion supported: ____________________________
Reason included: _____________________________________________
Reason excluded or replaced: _________________________________
Conversely, an elegant reflection cannot replace evidence of an activity where the receiving process requires it.
Tool C12 deletion archive and access review
Folder or platform reviewed: _________________________________
Active material retained: ___________________________________
Superseded duplicates handled under: _________________________
Material requiring organisational retention: ________________
Access after role or employer change: ________________________
Backup or approved export tested: ____________________________
Next review date: ____________________________________________
Deletion should follow the applicable retention and governance requirements; it is not a method for removing an inconvenient professional history. Equally, keeping everything forever is not a safe portfolio strategy. Record why material is retained, where the authoritative version sits and when its continuing need will be reconsidered.