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Picking message templates

Dr Ben Brown
Dr Ben Brown
  • Updated

Introduction

When sending messages to patients you can either manually type a message or pick one from a list. When picking from a list, you can choose from:

There are standard Patchs templates are available to all practices. You can also create your own message templates for your practice to use - read about how to create your own message templates here.

When you send a message to a patient either from the patient details page or when responding to a patient request, use the Pick message from list button to search for and select a message template.

Search for them using the search box. You can set favourites for easy access by clicking the star icon:

You can visit links and questionnaires before you select them to make sure they're what you want to send by clicking this icon Screenshot_2021-02-11_at_21.17.46.png.

Once you have selected a template from the search it will appear in the 'Selected messages' box on the right. You can delete individual messages or groups, and change the order in which they appear:

 

You can also edit templates by clicking in the box and changing the text.

Once you're happy, click 'Send' - the patient will be sent those messages in order.

NHS information pages

Patchs can access hundreds of health related information pages on the www.nhs.uk website, including:

  • Common questions
  • Health A to Z
  • Medicine A to Z
  • Videos
  • Live Well

So you can search and select what links to send patients all within Patchs. No need to find them and paste into a message yourself!

Advice templates

Advice templates act in the same way as 'Reply not required' manually typed messages - patients cannot reply to them. Examples of Patchs advice templates available to all practices include:

  • Back pain exercises
  • Back pain red flags
  • Blood tests results - repeat
  • Brandt-Daroff exercises
  • Failed telephone encounter - close down request
  • Failed telephone encounter - please call practice
  • Failed telephone encounter - try again later
  • Fit (sick) note request
  • Food and symptoms diary 
  • High cholesterol - lifestyle advice
  • Hip pain exercises
  • How to use a nasal spray (video)
  • How to use your inhaler
  • Knee pain exercises
  • Medication request received - 48 hours
  • Medication request received - 72 hours
  • Medication review - book appointment
  • Melasma
  • Neck pain exercises
  • Normal scan results
  • Normal test results
  • Overactive bladder and bladder training
  • Patient Participation Group (PPG) information
  • Peak flow diary
  • Prescription sent
  • Safety net (generic) - 1 week
  • Safety net (generic) - 2 weeks
  • Scan results - book GP appointment
  • Seborrhoeic keratosis
  • Shoulder pain exercises
  • Skin cancer
  • Stye - causes and treatment
  • Test results - book GP appointment
  • Vitamin D deficiency
  • Vitamin D insufficiency

Pharmacy First templates

Patchs provides standard signposting wording for Pharmacy First conditions. They include a link to the Patchs Health Hub so patients can find their nearest pharmacy or get treatment online. You can read more about Patchs Pharmacy First here.

Individual Question templates

Patients can reply once to individual question temples. Examples of individual Patchs question templates available to all practices include:

  • Attach photo request
  • Attach photo request - tonsils
  • Attach photo request - skin condition
  • COVID vaccination 1 offer
  • COVID vaccination 2 offer
  • Dentist Re-direction
  • Pharmacy clarification
  • PHQ-9 final question clarification

Question Set templates

Question sets are multiple individual questions asked one after the other. Patients can reply to each question. Examples of Patchs question sets available to all practices include:

  • Sore Throat
  • Urinary Tract Infection

Questionnaires

Questionnaires are separate forms with multiple questions and may have scores attached. For certain questionnaires individual answers or scores below or above a certain threshold can mark a request as urgent or emergency - this is detailed in the questionnaire instructions. Questionnaires available to all practices include:

  1. Abdominal Pain - Female
  2. Abdominal Pain - Male
  3. Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (full)
  4. Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (short)
  5. Alcohol use disorders identification test (AUDIT)
  6. Alcohol use disorders identification test consumption (AUDIT C)
  7. Asthma Control Test – Child (4-11 years)
  8. Asthma Control Test – Adult (12 years and over)
  9. Asthma RCP
  10. Autism-Spectrum Quotient - 10 items (AQ-10)
  11. Back pain (history + red flags)
  12. Back pain red flags
  13. Blood pressure (BP) - 4 day average
  14. Blood pressure (BP) - 7 day average
  15. Blood pressure (BP) - single reading
  16. BMI
  17. Breathlessness - MRC dyspnoea scale
  18. Cancer Care Review Pre-appointment
  19. Combined Oral Contraceptive Pill (COCP) Review
  20. Conjunctivitis - Baby (under 1 year)
  21. Conjunctivitis - Child and adult (1 year and over)
  22. COPD review
  23. Cough
  24. COVID-19 vaccination invitation
  25. COVID Monitoring (adults only)
  26. Diabetes review pre-appointment
  27. Diarrhoea
  28. Earache - Adult
  29. Earache - Child
  30. Epworth Sleepiness Scale
  31. Ethnicity
  32. FeverPAIN score
  33. Flu vaccine invitation (by email)
  34. Flu vaccine invitation (by SMS)
  35. Flu vaccine invitation (by SMS and email)
  36. Fracture risk (gathers data for FRAX tool)
  37. GAD-7
  38. Gastro-oesophageal Reflux (GORD, Indigestion)
  39. General practice physical activity questionnaire (GPPAQ)
  40. Headache - child (1 to 11 years)
  41. Headache - young person and adult (12 years and over)
  42. Health Assessment for Night Workers
  43. Health check
  44. Heart failure functional capacity (NYHA classification)
  45. Height and weight
  46. Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) Review
  47. IPSS
  48. Medication Review
  49. MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccination invitation
  50. Oxford Hip Score
  51. Oxford Knee Score
  52. Palpitations
  53. Periods - Heavy (Menorrhagia)
  54. PHQ-9
  55. Pneumococcal vaccination invitation
  56. Progestogen-Only Pill (POP) Review
  57. Pulse Oximetry (adults only)
  58. QRISK2 (collects data for calculation)
  59. Rash
  60. Shingles (Pharmacy First)
  61. Shingles vaccination invitation
  62. Shortness of breath (SoB)
  63. Sick/Fit note details
  64. Sinusitis (Pharmacy First) - Adults
  65. Skin Lesion
  66. Smoking status
  67. Tired all the time (TATT)
  68. Travel
  69. Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) - female
  70. Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) - male
  71. Vaginal discharge
  72. Vomiting
  73. Whooping cough (pertussis) vaccination invitation

'Send in body of email / SMS'

  • If the 'Send in body of email / SMS' box is not ticked the patient will be sent a link to view your message in Patchs. If the patient has a Patchs account, they will need to log in to view the message. If they don't have a Patchs account, they will need to enter their date of birth to view the message. This option is recommended if you are sending sensitive information as it is most secure. Your practice name will be added by Patchs when the message has been sent and the patient will see your name in the Patchs chatbot - so there's no need to add these yourself.
  • If the 'Send in body of email / SMS' box is ticked your message will be sent as an email and/or SMS. The patient won't need to access Patchs to view your message. This option is recommended if you are not sending sensitive information as it is the least secure. Your practice name will be added by Patchs when the message has been sent - sop there's no need to add this yourself. This option is currently not available for 'Reply required' messages, as patients need to log into Patchs to reply to messages at the moment.

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