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 2016Universities seeking stressed, burnt-out and depressed GPs. Can you help? (16 Feb 2016)
Despite doctors, including GPs, being more likely to experience reduced well-being and mental health symptoms, there is evidence that they also have insufficient access and face barriers to mainstream healthcare...Flu Feedback (16 Feb 2016)
Londonwide LMCs has been asked to contribute to NHS England London’s 2015/16 Flu Evaluation session on 6th April 2016, giving feedback on the flu immunisation programme for this year. In...Update: Appraisal Toolkit (16 Feb 2016)
NHS England funding for the use of the Clarity appraisal toolkit has ceased. Although many of you will pay for and continue to use Clarity, we have been asked to...Primary Care Support England – launch of a new online portal (16 Feb 2016)
Primary Care Support England (PCSE) is launching a new online portal. The portal is intended to provide service users with a quick and easy way of ordering and tracking supplies,...November 2015 workforce survey findings (16 Feb 2016)
General practice is responsible for 90% of all NHS activity but receives less than 10% of overall funding. Which makes it all the more concerning that responding to our recently...Patient Online deadline approaching – what you need to know (16 Feb 2016)
The London Patient Online team have asked us to remind practices that they are expected to allow patients access to their coded data within the GP record by 31 March...Family and Friends Test data submission dates and guidance (16 Feb 2016)
Future submission dates FFT feedback month Submission closure (twelfth working day of the month) January 2016...Apprenticeship update and a first-hand view of what makes it great (16 Feb 2016)
My Apprenticeship –Joel Carmody at St Peter’s Medical Centre, Harrow We have all heard the horror stories about general practice on the news. The endless waiting times, the further restrictions...GP workforce pressures put care of nearly a million Londoners in jeopardy survey shows (15 Feb 2016)
Almost a million Londoners face losing their GP as the workforce crumbles in the face of staff shortages, warns Dr Michelle Drage, Chief Executive of Londonwide LMCs, following a survey...Annual General Meeting (08 Feb 2016)
Londonwide LMCs’ Annual General Meeting took place on Thursday 28 January 2016 at the LMCs’ offices, Tavistock House South, Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9LH. The formal...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...
