RA SYSTEM SOFTWARE UPDATE - URGENT ACTION REQUIRED
The system that manages NHS smartcards is changing!
You should now be aware that HSCIC is transferring to a new software solution for
registering smartcard users and maintaining their access. The new service (Care
Identity Service) will be more flexible, efficient and provide a future-proof service to
serve a modern NHS.
The transition has now been confirmed by HSCIC. The old service will be taken
down on Thursday 19th February and the new service launch is expected to be
Tuesday 24th February. During this period there will be no RA Service available
nationally and the RA teams will be unable to carry out any smartcard maintenance
including the following:
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Unlocking cards
Renewing certificates
Creating new users
Processing any requests
Adding or removing access
To manage the national downtime and minimise disruption, there are a few key
dates that you need to be aware of:
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5pm Monday 16th February – Deadline for submissions of maintenance
calls/requests to the service desks to make changes to users’ smartcards
If you miss this deadline, the RA team will make every effort to action urgent
requests only until 2pm on Thursday 19th February.
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Thursday 19th February Between 2pm and 5pm the RA team will be clearing
down the UIM system and then unavailable to action requests during this
time.
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5pm Thursday 19th February – National system is taken down and the RA
will be unable to process any requests. If you currently use UIM to submit
requests, please do not do so after this point as uncompleted tasks will not
be carried across to the new system.
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Please note that any UIM requests not actioned by sponsors before the
deadline – Monday 16th February will not be actioned until after the new
system is up and running
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All service desk calls should continue to be logged in the normal way, and in
addition, we plan to have a telephone hotline for customer advice and
guidance during the outage, the service desk will put such urgent calls directly
through to the RA team.
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24th February – Launch of new system, the RA service will resume.
There may be some further disruption during this time as any minor issues are
resolve, please bear with us we will have staff on site on the Monday evening to
ensure we can establish access to the new system ready for Tuesday morning.
With the best endeavors, we do appreciate that one e-learning course will not be
enough to fully prepare you on the new system.
The CSU will ensure that all RA Agents have remote log in tools to assist you step
by step, and in the event that the system doesn’t work for any reason, we will accept
form based requests from any user and action these accordingly.
Additionally we will be announcing WebEx training sessions to support you in
addition to the e-learning, and as soon as the user guide is published we will share
this with the community.
Please note: Organisations currently using RA forms should continue with the
current process, they will not be affected by this change, and there will be a gradual
transition to the new electronic system from March onwards.
The local processes of logging RA calls to the Service Desk will not change.
However it is imperative that the capability to unlock smartcards and renew
certificates in your local areas is maintained. In preparation for this we would
therefore ask you to ensure the following
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Plan for possible requirements
If you have any staff due to start employment during or just after the go live at the
end of February then please take steps to arrange this as soon as possible by
contacting your local Helpdesk.
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Expiring Certificates
If you, or anybody else in your organisation has seen on screen prompts to renew
Smartcard certificates, please do so as soon as possible.
We also hope to have access to a report of users whose Smartcards are due to
expire in the next 3 months at which point we will contact those affected with further
details.
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Type 03 Smartcards and earlier
It has now been brought to our attention that, although they will continue to work,
older Smartcards with an NHS Logo and Serial Number on the back of the card
starting 01, 02 or 03 will not be able to have their certificates renewed or PINs reset
in the new system (NHS Logo Cards with a Serial Number starting 04 and NHS Care
Records Service Banner Cards starting 05 or 06 are unaffected).
We would therefore ask anybody who is still using a Smartcard with a Serial Number
starting 01, 02 or 03 to please log a call with their local Servicedesk to have their
Smartcard replaced.
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Sponsors and Card Unlockers (Local Smartcard Administrators) ONLY –
need to complete the CIS Online Training
HSCIC have developed e-learning for staff that may have a need to use CIS. The
link to register for training and undertake the modules is
https://hscic.premierittask.com/.
There are two different levels of training - RA Sponsor (B1300) and Local Smartcard
Administrator (B0263).
RA Sponsor training covers:
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RA Policy
Raising requests
Viewing Requests
Unlocking smartcards/renewing certificates
Assigning positions
Local Smartcard Administrator training covers:
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RA Policy
Unlocking smartcards
Renewing Certificates
Please complete all the modules relevant to the role you fulfill. If you currently submit
requests in UIM or sign RA forms, you should complete the sponsor training. Those
who unlock smartcards, should complete all modules for Local Smartcard
Administrator.
On successful completion of the assessment, please enter your name on the
certificate, retain a copy for your records and forward one to
Registration.Authority@nelcsu.nhs.uk. We would be grateful if you could use an
Email Subject Header of ‘[Org Name] [Org Code] [Full Name] [Smartcard UUID]’.
National policy mandates that if you do not complete the online training you
will not be able to sponsor requests, unlock smartcards or renew certificates
using the new system so you are asked to please do this as soon as possible.
We appreciate your cooperation and apologise for any inconvenience.
PLEASE NOTE THAT APART FROM A FEW MINUTES OUTAGE ON SATURDAY
OR SUNDAY THE END USERS SHOULD NOT BE AFFECTED BY THIS CHANGE
PLEASE SEE THE ATTACHED