Patient and colleague feedback system - Orbit360

All doctors working in NHS Wales have access to the Orbit360 patient and colleague feedback system. For most doctors this will provide the route to obtaining the minimum requirement of 1 colleague and 1 patient feedback exercise once per revalidation cycle. You should also, at each appraisal, reflect on any other sources of patient feedback you can access, that give you helpful information about your practice (such as unsolicited feedback). For the latest guidance on patient and colleague feedback during appraisal and for revalidation, you should read the GMC Supporting Information Guidance.

You can complete your patient and colleague feedback at any point in your revalidation cycle. It is good practice to obtain your feedback early in your revalidation cycle as, if changes are needed, you may choose to run the feedback again to demonstrate development.

How does the Orbit360 system work?

Orbit360 is a dedicated end-to-end patient and colleague feedback system that integrates directly to the Medical Appraisal Revalidation System (MARS). It has been developed by the Revalidation Support Unit (RSU) in conjunction with the Digital Team within Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW). Orbit360 is used for your formal feedback exercise.

Orbit360 has been designed on an adaptable platform to allow the possibility of further professions utilising the system in the future. It also means we can be reactive to any changes to revalidation requirements introduced by the GMC. Orbit360 compiles patient and colleague feedback into a report that you can reflect upon during your appraisal.

As part of revalidation, the GMC require that a doctor collects formal feedback from colleagues and patients. Further guidance can be found on our Frequently Asked Questions

Process

There is an Orbit360 feedback process flowchart

1. You’ll need to register on Orbit360 and verify your email address. Please ensure the details, including your GMC number, are entered correctly
2. Once you have verified your email you can login and initiate your survey(s) via the ‘manage feedback page’.
3. Orbit360 will perform an automatic check against GMC Connect and MARS, should you meet the criteria your survey(s) will be automatically approved. If you do not meet the criteria, your Designated Body will manually review the survey request.
4. You can then enter the details of your Supportive Medical Colleague (SMC), colleague list and download your patient forms simultaneously
5. The patient feedback forms should be administered by a third party, this could be a receptionist or other clinical or non-clinical staff
6. You’ll then see progress bars for each survey detailing the responses received and the time remaining. You have 8 weeks to complete your feedback. You can add additional colleague details or download additional patient forms at any point while the survey(s) is active
7. Patient forms can be returned by email or post
8. Your report will automatically be generated once you have received the minimum number of responses and reached the 8-week time period. Alternatively, you can request for your SMC to view the report early once you reach the minimum number of responses. You need a minimum of 15 colleague responses and 20 patient responses.

For GPs, the SMC is not normally your appraiser. You should select a clinical colleague; this doctor should not be related to you but may be your partner or someone else with whom you work closely.

For all other doctors, the SMC can be your appraiser. You should select a clinical colleague; this doctor should not be related to you but may be someone else with whom you work closely.

Guidance for Supporting Medical Colleagues (SMC)

The role of the Supportive Medical Colleague in the process, is to help the doctor make sense of, and reflect on, their feedback. You can find further information about the SMC role in the Orbit360 SMC guidance document.

The SMC will;

1. Verify the list of colleagues that a doctor has selected, ensuring that the list represents colleagues from across the whole practice
2. Review the doctors report
3. Provide feedback on the doctor’s report and release it back to them.

The report

Your completed report will be available to download, go to 'completed reports' from the Orbit360 menu.

Once you have the completed report, you should create a ‘Feedback’ entry onto MARS, upload your report and reflect on the feedback you’ve received to ensure you meet the requirements for revalidation.

If you have any further questions, please contact heiw.orbit360@wales.nhs.uk