PCSE IT Upgrade Scheduled for 29/30 September

25 September 2023

PCSE has advised that it will be undertaking an internal IT systems upgrade overnight on Friday 29 September. The upgrade is internal only, and will not affect any functionality of PCSE Online and there will be no changes to interface specifications, message schemes, or data validation.

PCSE is keen to avoid the repeat of issues experienced during previous updates and has provided two possible scenarios for the update with different time frames for a return to Business As Usual (BAU).

If all proceeds as expected, the update will be completed by 6.30am on Saturday 30 September. From 6.30am the system will be available for users for BAU but may run more slowly than usual due to the User Acceptance Testing (UAT) taking place concurrently. This testing should be completed by 10.30am.

If the upgrade experiences problems, a worst-case scenario will see it completed by 9.30am on Saturday 30 September, at which point the system will be available for users for BAU but may run more slowly than usual due to UAT. This testing should be completed by 2pm.

Anyone experiencing problems using PCSE Online during the UAT testing period is asked to check for status banner updates on the PCSE website.

Should the issue extend beyond the expected period of disruption, users are asked to complete an online Ophthalmic General enquiry via the Contact Us page of the PCSE England website. You should use ‘PCSE IT Upgrade’ as the subject of your enquiry in the Enquiry Details section and include screenshots of the issue you have encountered.