Patient Online – prepare now for next year’s contractual deadline
As you know, promoting the use of online appointment booking and online repeat prescription ordering are contractual requirements for Patient Online. These are routinely offered to patients in London.
From 1 April 2016 practices are expected to fulfil the current contractual requirement to provide online access to GP records for those patients who request it. Online access will be extended from the current access to repeat prescriptions, allergies and adverse reactions to access to all coded data within a patient’s record. The inclusion of free text is not a contractual requirement but may be useful in certain circumstances (explaining test results out of range for example).
EMIS and TPP’s latest releases now provide the functionality to support the contractual requirements. It is expected that INPS and Microtest releases will be available in time to allow practices to meet these obligations. Practices will not be expected to fulfil this contractual requirement if they do not have access to computer systems and software which would enable them to offer the online services.
A statement from the Patient on Line team confirms:
“GPSoC has assured the Detailed Coded Record elements from the Framework Requirements in EMIS Release 5.5 to 5.8 (available now) and TPP Release MR 116 (planned release to be available from 9 Dec 2015) for clinical safety, information governance and functionality. These elements have been confirmed by NHS England to meet the GMS contractual requirements for 2015/16.
HSCIC and NHS England are continuing to work with INPS and Microtest to secure timely delivery of system functionality for access to detailed coded records.”
You will need time and help to understand the practicalities and the implications of this. Currently NHS England’s (NHSE) Patient Online programme is providing support to practices to understand and deliver these commitments. Support for London is provided by Implementation Lead, Richard Ince, and Digital Clinical Champion, east London GP, Dr Phil Koczan.
It is a good idea to contact your system provider now to find out more information on how to deliver online access to patient records in a safe and consistent way.
NHS England are currently hosting additional webinar sessions to provide advice on how you can benefit from providing online services to patients. The webinars are interactive and provide an opportunity to ask questions, learn from other practices and find out how to access support locally. Visit the NHS England website for further information.
There is also a contractual requirement for practices to issue a statement of intent in relation to these new services. This should be done as soon as possible.
If you have any queries, or would like to discuss Patient Online in more detail, please contact Richard Ince at richard.ince@nhs.net.
Further information is also available by clicking on the following links:
Last updated : 17 Feb 2016NHS 73rd anniversary video (20 Jul 2021)
The health service has accomplished a lot, especially in the past year. We have made this video to recognise the momentous efforts made by GPs, practice staff and others working...Tips of the Month July 2021 (20 Jul 2021)
We provide weekly tips based on common queries which come through to us from London GPs and practice teams. These are shared via social media and collated for...GP Data for Planning and Research suspended until tests met (20 Jul 2021)
On 19 July NHS Digital announced it is setting three tests for the data collection associated with the GP Data for Planning and Research project (GPDfPR).These tests are: The...Reminder: Londonwide LMCs mask wearing poster for practices (19 Jul 2021)
Reminder: Londonwide LMCs mask wearing poster for practices Practices can download and...Covid-19 response update (16 Jul 2021)
In the last two weeks guidance has been issued on core services and the vaccination enhanced service. NHS England letter of 19 July This letter sets out changes for...Face covering requirements in practices (16 Jul 2021)
NHS England confirmed on 15 July 2021 that Public Health England’s infection prevention and control (IPC) guidance still applies to patient-facing healthcare settings, ahead of the law around mask wearing...Solicitors’ letters regarding ‘mask discrimination’ (12 Jul 2021)
We are aware that practices are being contacted by solicitors’ firms seeking damages for patients for “discrimination in relation to mask wearing and access to care”. The following advice may...UPDATE: Appointment mapping exercise deadline extended to 31 July 2021 (30 Jun 2021)
We have just learned that NHS England have extended the standardised GP appointment categories mapping exercise deadline until 31 July. This also means the first payments to PCNs move from...Guidance
We provide expert guidance for practices in our guidance section, as well as an archive of other materials you may find useful.
GP Support
Contact our GP Support team if you need help or advice.
The team provide professional and pastoral support to GPs and practice teams on a broad range of issues.
follow us on...
