National Library of Post Outlines

What is the KSF National Library, and where do I find it?
The KSFG is making a range of KSF post outlines, developed by NHS staff and managers, available as a resource to the service through the KSF National Library. This is available on the e-ksf, which is available free to NHS organisations.

This National Library of outlines is not like the British Library - it will not contain every KSF post outline in the NHS. Nor is it like the job evaluation profiles. The library is there as a resource for organisations to use if they wish to do so – there is no compulsion to use the outlines held. The National Library is there to help organisations take the first steps to the development of their own KSF post outlines. It is vital that organisations, through managers and staff working together, identify the particular demands of the post in that organisation so that the KSF post outline can truly inform individuals’ development.

Where do the National Library Post Outlines come from?

Post Outlines in the National Library are all created by managers and staff within real NHS organisations. As such, these post outlines are examples of current practice and are all developed in partnership.
Post Outlines can be submitted to the National Library by local organisations’ e-KSF administrators. This will usually happen on the request of KSF leads in the organisation.

What types of outlines are we focusing on for submission to the library?

The KSF Group of the NHS Staff Council has decided to prioritise the outlines that it will evaluate and accept into the National Library. The purpose of doing this is to ensure that we get the best range of outlines in the Library as possible within the resources available to the Group to do this work.

Before you submit an outline for consideration you are encouraged to have a look at the National Library and see whether the outline you are planning to submit is for an occupational group which is not well covered in the Library to date. If there are outlines in the Library similar to the one you were thinking of submitting, then please do not submit it as it will not be possible to give it due consideration.

The KSFG would like to thank all individuals and organisations who have submitted outlines in the past. This has been very helpful in providing support to other organisations as they implement the KSF.

National Library Post Outlines from e-KSF are also uploaded to WISE on a monthly basis, to allow access to the library for people who don’t yet have e-KSF access. In the longer term, we’ll be adding a link to the e-KSF homepage to allow anyone to access National Library outlines direct from e-KSF without needing to log in.

Is there good practice in developing outlines for the National Library?

For detailed guidance notes on good practice for developing outlines please click here to download a document

The outlines submitted to the National Library are evaluated by the KSFG. There are six broad criteria that the KSFG use when considering outlines for inclusion in the National Library. These are: - :

• It is for an occupation which is not currently well represented in the Library
• It meets the quality standards for inclusion in the Library ie: -


• It contains both a full and foundation outline for the post
• There is room for an individual to develop in the post between the foundation and full outline
• It has detailed areas of application for both the full and foundation outline (ie does not wholly / mainly use unedited text from the KSF Handbook)
• It makes sense in terms of having dimensions and levels that are realistic for the post title and purpose
• It was developed in partnership between managers and staff

How can I use the outlines in the National Library?

You can find the outlines in the National Library by logging in to e-KSF and clicking “View National Library of Post Outlines”.
You can’t directly use or assign these outlines to employees in your organisation, because of the principle of local partnership – outlines used in reviews need to be agreed in your local organisation and link to the services that you are actually involved in delivering. What you can do is copy and customise the outlines in the National Library – take a copy of the title, dimensions, levels and areas of application, give the outline a new name if you want to, and then update the outline to take account of your local needs. This updated outline, once agreed for use by your local KSF group, can then be assigned to staff and used in reviews. This copying and customising of existing outlines can save you a large amount of work in creating your local post outlines!

How is the National Library managed?

The contents of the National Library are overseen by the KSFG, which is a formal subgroup of the NHS Staff Council. The aim of the National Library is not to catalogue every Post Outline in use, but rather to have a representative range of current good practice. Post Outlines in the library may occasionally be removed and replaced with later versions submitted from the service. It would be helpful if the organisations that originated an outline informed the KSF Group of significant changes to the outline in the light of experience. However, other organisations do not have a say as to whether an outline should stay in the Library or not.