PCSE Online Business Continuity Guidance for Ophthalmic Contractors
27 April 2021
The document sets out what you should do if you are unable to access PCSE Online. PCSE and NHSEI are committed to ensuring contractors have access to the system during all hours.
The optical bodies including LOCSU are in regular contact with PCSE over issues regarding this guidance but if issues have been raised to PCSE without success please get in touch.
Business Continuity for Ophthalmic Contractors
Primary Care Support England
PCSE Online Business Continuity Guidance for Ophthalmic Contractors
Service Availability
This document sets out what you should do if you are unable to access PCSE Online. PCSE and NHSEI are committed to ensuring contractors have access to the system during all hours. We will notify practices in advance of any scheduled maintenance window, which may have to be during core service hours.
A system outage will result in ophthalmic users in optical practices being unable to complete and submit General Ophthalmic Services (GOS) claims. Access to PCSE Online will also be affected if there is a loss of local internet connectivity. Therefore, Business Continuity Guidance has been produced to ensure there is no disruption to the provision of GOS if PCSE Online is unavailable
If you cannot access PCSE Online
Step 1: Check to see if it is an internet connectivity issue
If a user cannot access the PCSE Online portal they must check the practice’s internet connection is operating normally by completing an online search in their normal browser.
If it is not possible to connect to the internet, the date and time of the incident should be recorded, and the issue should be reported to the internet provider in the usual way.
Step 2: Check to see if it is a PCSE Online outage
If it is possible to connect to the internet but practice users are unable to log into PCSE Online, the date and time of the incident should be recorded. The user should go to www.pcse.england.nhs.uk and check for an alert banner on the home page regarding system availability.
If there is no alert banner confirming there is a known system issue, the user should contact PCSE, using these details:
Business Continuity Scenarios
The main GOS claim scenarios in an optical practice that will be impacted by a system outage or connectivity issue, and the recommended business continuity actions, are listed below.
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