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 2016Responding to online comments about your practice (13 Apr 2018)
This is a reminder for practices about what they can do if they receive notification of negative comments posted on the NHS Choices website. We understand practices are notified...Recommended codes for vaccinations (12 Apr 2018)
Childhood vaccination coding can be unexpectedly complex there are just 26 pre-school and school age vaccinations, but practices can record these vaccinations using over 1,000 different codes. Data export providers,...LEAD events May and June 2018 (12 Apr 2018)
Hold the date: our annual Practice Manager Conference will take place on Thursday 22 November 2018 at Woburn House Conference Centre. The following events are now available for online booking....Stand. Vote. Engage. The 2018 LMC elections (12 Apr 2018)
Nomination papers for this year’s LMC elections were sent out in the week beginning 30 April 2018. This year every LMC seat is up for election. We want any GP...Concerns about coroners issues (21 Mar 2018)
In response to concerns raised regarding GP relationships with the coroners’ office, we recently requested examples of problems experienced by GPs and practice staff. Examples provided so far include: ...Londonwide LMCs' March 2018 newsletter (21 Mar 2018)
GMC requests for evidence of English language competence (20 Mar 2018)
The House of Commons Library has release updated guidance on what documentation the GMC will accept as evidence that GPs, nurses and pharmacists have sufficient English language skills. These controls...LMC elections – join us in May to learn about what is involved in being an LMC member (20 Mar 2018)
This year every LMC seat is up for election and next month you will have a chance to stand for election to your LMC. Any GP working in one of...NHS Digital questioned on Home Office data sharing (20 Mar 2018)
On Thursday 15 March the Health and Social Care Select Committee took evidence from Sarah Wilkinson, Chief Executive Officer, NHS Digital; and Noel Gordon, Chair, NHS Digital on data sharing. ...UK LMC Conference 2018 round-up (20 Mar 2018)
This year's LMC Conference saw debate on a range of issues of concern to London GPs: from Bawa-Garbar and the use of written reflections, to mass resignations, workload management, and...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...
