Warning

This SOP covers help and support requests by end-users and by editors, and includes dealing with critical and emergency issues.

Right Decisions editors

Help and support for technical issues

All editors should register to use the Tactuum support portal at External Link https://support.tactuum.com/hc/en-us/  The Right Decision Service has a contract with Tactuum for technical development and maintenance of the Right Decisions Platform.

When a technical problem is identified, editors should:

  • Log in to the Support Portal.
  • Include Email his.decisionsupport@nhs.scot  in the ‘CC’ field. The CC field is only visible when you are logged in. It is important to include the HIS decision support email address in your tickets as this is the main way that the RDS team can keep track of issues arising with the system. In addition, the RDS team will help if your problem is related to content management issues that do not require technical input from Tactuum.
  • Complete the fields in the form, providing as much detail as possible about the steps you took to encounter the problem, error messages, URLs etc.
  • In the “Project” dropdown list, select “QURIS-UOS-RDS (new QURIS).

Select the appropriate category from the “Priority” dropdown list, using the following definitions from the RDS service level agreement with Tactuum. Response times from Tactuum are determined by the category selected. Note that Tactuum  or the RDS team may change the priority if the one you select does not correspond to the service level agreement definition.

P1 – Critical/Urgent

Definition

1.      The Service as a whole is not operational for multiple users during the Support Period.

2.      Multiple core functions of the Service are not operational for multiple users during the Support Period.

Response

Resolution

Initial response within 4 hours on receipt of notification.

Investigation and attempt to resolve within 8 hours of response time pickup.

 

P2 – High

Definition

1.      A single core function of the Service is not operational for multiple users during the Support Period.

2.      Multiple non-core functions of the Service are not operational for multiple users during the Support Period.

Response

Resolution

Initial response within 4 hours on receipt of notification.

Investigation and attempt to resolve within 16 hours of response time pickup.

 

P3 – Medium/Normal

Definition

1.      One or more non-core functions of the Service are not operational for multiple users during the Support Period.

2.      A function of the Service does not work as expected/defined but does not cause a serious impact to the overall Service.

Response

Resolution

Initial response within 24 hours on receipt of notification.

Where a scheduled release plan exists for the Service, P3 – Medium/Normal issues will be planned into the next available release slot.  Alternatively, investigation and attempt to resolve within 48 hours of response time pickup.

 

P4 – Low

Definition

1.      One or more non-core functions of the Service are not operational for a single user during the Support Period.

2.      Any other issues of minor impact, e.g. cosmetic.

Response

Resolution

Initial response within 24 hours on receipt of notification.

Where a scheduled release plan exists for the Service, P4 – Low issues will be planned into the next available release slot.  Alternatively, investigation and attempt to resolve within 72 hours of response time pickup.

Tactuum or the RDS team will add comments and questions to the Support Portal ticket to respond to your support request. You should also use the ticket to add your responses and further comments and questions. 

If you feel the response is not satisfactory or has not met the service level agreement obligations, please email Email ann.wales3@nhs.scot direct.

Content management and other non-technical issues

Non-technical issues, including questions about content management, or requests about training, should be sent to the RDS Support email address Email his.decisionsupport@nhs.scot . We will endeavour to respond to your request within 3 working days.

You also have the option to use the “General Discussion” and “Asked and Answered” sections of the community area to seek help from the RDS editor community.

High risk /critical issues

From time to time issues may be detected which represent a potential risk to clinical care or organisational reputation. For example:

  • Non-availability of a toolkit which is the primary route for clinicians to access essential clinical guidance.
  • Media in password-protected areas being searchable via the Internet.
  • Errors in transcribing clinical content.

Where the problem is technical in nature, an “Urgent” support ticket should be raised, copied to Emailhis.decisionsupport@nhs.scot . You should also email Email his.decisionsupport@nhs.scot and Email ann.wales3@nhs.scot directly so that the RDS team is notified to liaise with Tactuum to find a resolution.

Once the problem is resolved, Tactuum will perform a root cause analysis, put in place appropriate mitigation, and inform the RDS team, who will update the editors.  Both Tactuum and the RDS team will complete an incident report which will be made available for the governance groups in HIS and the Scottish Government-led Decision Support Advisory Board to review.

Back-ups and disaster recovery

Backups of all Tactuum produced software and configuration files are retained within a secure source code repository. Backups are applied to website(s), database(s) and any associated file/media folders, i.e. all elements required to reinstate the Service in full.

Backups are performed weekly (automatically).

Weekly backups are retained within Microsoft Azure Cloud service for 30 days.

Backups are normally scheduled to run between the hours of 2am and 4am GMT to avoid impact to service.

In the event of complete failure of the hosting platform/environment disaster recovery (Disaster Recovery” or “DR”) procedures include:

Failure within the cloud hosting environment will result in recovery backups being deployed into an alternative cloud environment. This will be performed in agreement with the Client. Complete deployment (for a single service) into alternative/new cloud hosting environment would typically require 2 days.

Help and support for end-users

End-users should use the Feedback form within the RDS main navigation to raise issues.  Feedback goes to the Email his.decisionsupport@nhs.scot email address.

For urgent issues, they may email the Email his.decisionsupport@nhs.scot , cc Email ann.wales3@nhs.scot directly with “Urgent” in the subject line.

Where local knowledge services are involved in delivery of RDS tools and products, end-users should also inform their contacts there. Knowledge Services staff can then use the routes described above for “Editors” to register issues.

Editorial Information

Last reviewed: 04/09/2023

Next review date: 30/04/2024

Author(s): Ann Wales.

Version: 1.0

Author email(s): ann.wales3@nhs.scot.

Approved By: Healthcare Improvement Scotland Evidence Directorate Senior Management Team

Reviewer name(s): Ann Wales.