Frequently Asked Questions

QUESTION Can requests go to a central admin so that they can be distributed to the relevant professional?

ANSWER Yes, this would be the best approach so that it can be directed to the most appropriate person

QUESTION Is there a size limit for adding documents to the portal?

ANSWER The current Max file size for an attachment sent via the Portal is 10MB. Portal Users including parents would get a warning at the point of trying to attach the file that this had been unsuccessful and the reason why

QUESTION Can people upload multiple files and forms?

ANSWER Yes, the system will allow for this option

QUESTION Can a school have multiple log ins as there may be more than one member of staff that needs access to the portal?

ANSWER As long as a member of staff registers on the portal they can have as many staff with a log in as they wish. Permission to view cases on the portal however can only be given by the Local Authority not the school. A school could however download items so that they have a local copy as they do now.

QUESTION Can people download documents from the portal?

ANSWER Yes, documents can be downloaded

QUESTION Can people cut and paste from documents on the portal?

ANSWER Yes, either by downloading them as above or directly from the forms

QUESTION Can you print from the portal?

ANSWER Yes, as long as the browser in use supports printing.

QUESTION Can you save a draft, and can others view this?

ANSWER No, only submitted forms can be seen by others. If you wanted to do this, you could mark a form as Draft (via a question) and then submit/share

QUESTION What permissions / access would a private EP have?

ANSWER None directly. This would for the person commissioning the private EP to share any documentation

QUESTION Would external agencies commissioned by GCC that support YP and families and who have contributions to make have access to the portal (e.g. Prospects YJ service, GHES, etc), or would they submit something via another GCC professional (casework officer, for example?), who would then upload it?

ANSWER This would be decided on a case by case basis however as long as they are involved and submitting information they could register on the Professional Portal

QUESTION Can you see information that others have put on?

ANSWER Yes, as long as you are a authorised user of the portal for the case you are viewing

QUESTION Will the portal now take responsibility for sending all reminders to health clinicians where a deadline is near as the new system might make it hard for administrators in GHFT/GHC to monitor timescales and send reminders

ANSWER The portal will send reminders but these will go to the Generic Email account that was originally used unless a Health Clinician registers to use the portal and is authorised by the Local Authority

QUESTION How will the portal will know which health clinician or social worker is linked to which child?

ANSWER It won’t – health / social care will receive a request for information about a child and they will need to identify who the relevant health clinician/ social worker is and forward the request as they do presently

QUESTION Can our service be added in as potential contributors in this process? We may have been working with the school with the CYP at MP/MP+ so, if we have, will likely have factual info to share with regards to all interventions / provisions to date (e.g. where we have funded an intervention).

ANSWER Yes, where it is possible that you may have information to contribute, you will be notified and asked to contribute this information as long as you are a registered user on the portal

QUESTION Currently, the school often deal with parental queries around the progress of the assessment. Would we have access to the portal in case of queries, or would we pass these queries on elsewhere?

ANSWER Yes, as long as the professional / school involved is registered as a user on the portal and request to be authorised to view the information for the pupil they are involved with

QUESTION Who will ensure we are identified as linked to the child, and ensure we are given permissions to view?

ANSWER As part of the process we would identify who is involved with the child / young person and / or you can request authentication to view their case on the portal. The EHCP Team are not able to register on other professional’s behalf though - this would need to be actioned by the professional involved. This would then be reviewed by the EHCP Team to give permission to access the pupils details on the portal

QUESTION Will professionals have permissions to see the portal as we often need to know what stage things are at (if involved with the child) during the assessment process?

ANSWER The professional involved with the pupil will need to register on the portal and the EHCP Team will then authorise users to be able to view the pupils details if appropriate.

QUESTION If the alert went to a professional that has left the service, will the alert bounce back so that this is picked up?

ANSWER This cannot be guaranteed; by going to a central admin address in health / social care though, they would be able to identify who the current practitioner / social worker is to avoid this happening

QUESTION Can the portal report on what organisations were invited to and attended the review?

ANSWER The portal is not yet being used for Annual Reviews but we are planning to do so as soon as practically possible. At this stage we will engage with partners about the review function

QUESTION Can parents / carers see reports from professionals?

ANSWER Yes, if the parent / carer has access they will be able to see all relevant documents relating to their child

QUESTION Does the portal auto save?

ANSWER Unfortunately not, though we will request this as part of future versions of the portal. For now, please make sure that you continually save any work that you do on a form on the portal

QUESTION Is the system compatible with CIF and CINS so that we don’t need to duplicate entry?

ANSWER No, unfortunately the system is not currently compatible with CIF and CINS

QUESTION How will I receive information as to how to register?

ANSWER The Process Team within the GCC EHC Team will provide you with this

QUESTION If parents were separated, would the parent who hadn’t made the request be notified?

ANSWER As long as the EHCP Team are aware that there is another parent who has parental responsibility then yes. However, this would not be via the portal unless both parents have registered individually.

QUESTION Once the young person reaches 16, can the parent still automatically have access to the case or does this have be reassigned with consent from the young person?

ANSWER Once the young person has reached the end of the school year in which they turn 16 it would need the consent of the young person for the parent/carers to continue to access the information. At this point the YP could register for the Citizen Portal and access their own information in the same manner as their parents have been

QUESTION What happens if a child moves school?

ANSWER The new school would need to be given authorisation to access the case and the authorisation to the first school be ceased. We would then de-authenticate the previous school

QUESTION Is there a time limit to complete a document within?

ANSWER The whole portal form will remain on the portal indefinitely until it is completed or removed however when completing please save frequently as there is a timeout on the system

QUESTION Is the portal limited to certain browsers only?

ANSWER The system supports most browsers, but please let us know if you are using one that isn’t

QUESTION Can the portal be accessed from a mobile phone?

ANSWER Yes, as long as the browser used on the mobile device is up to date

QUESTION Can non active cases be archived so that the list of children for any one school does not becoming long and unwieldy as time goes by?

ANSWER Yes, each Portal user will have access to do this

QUESTION Is it possible for schools to see the Citizens’ Portal so that they know what else parents / carers have access to should they ask for clarification on something on there?

ANSWER Currently, there is no way for a school to access the personal information held on the Citizen Portal for security reasons

QUESTION Is there translation available for EAL families?

ANSWER Most Internet Browsers now offer translation facilities so this should be possible

QUESTION How will consistency be achieved across the country in digital systems?

ANSWER Unfortunately, it is likely that different local authorities may procure different providers for their EHC Portal, if indeed they all procure one (though the recent SEND Green Paper suggests that LAs should). This is because there are different providers already in the market that provide case management systems, and many choose the same provider for the EHC Portal because it is easier to “read across” both systems

QUESTION Do schools get emailed when there is something needing to be done or checked on the portal?

ANSWER Yes, you will receive an email notification that there is something that needs to be done on the portal, so you will need to log in in the normal way to the portal