Manual merge

You can now merge one Patchs patient with another Patchs patient from the Patient list, if the patients have the same:

• forename, surname and date of birth

or the same:

• NHS number.

A merge icon will be displayed alongside any patient on the patient list who can potentially be matched with another patient.

* The merge icon will be visible but inactive until all the patient's outstanding requests have been completed.

Clicking on the merge icon will display the 'Choose patients to merge' page.

On the left hand side you will see:

• Details of the patient to merge. This will typically be a non-digital patient or a dependent
• All their requests and messages

On the right hand side you will see, for one (or more) matching patients:

• Details of the patient to merge into
• All their requests and messages

You should compare the patient on the left with the potentially matching patients on the right. If you are satisfied that it is a true match, click on the Merge into button.

Merge patients

This will show the Merge patients page:

The Merge Patients form shows:

• On the left hand side, details of the 'minor' patient record that will no longer be visible in Patchs after the merge.
• On the right hand side, details of the 'major' patient record that will remain visible in Patchs after the merge.
• Once the merge is complete,
  
  
  • The patient on the left will no longer be visible in Patchs.
  • Requests, messages, and video consultations for the patient on the left will be transferred to the patient on the right. 
  • The patient on the right will not be able to view those requests, messages, or video consultations.
  • The NHS number of the patient on the left will be transferred to the patient on the right

NB we don't allow the patient on the right to view the requests, messages, and video consultations of the patient on the left, in case the wrong patients are merged.

Clicking on the Merge Patients button will complete the merge and display the following Merge patients confirmation:

You can use the Undo button to undo the merge at this stage. Or, you can navigate back to the Patients page, where you will see the merged patient record.

Merge History

A history of all patients that have been merged into the current patient is shown on the Merged Patients tab.

Undo merge

If patients are merged by mistake, they can be unmerged by clicking the Undo merge button on the 'Merged Patients' tab.

The Undo patient merge page shows how a patient will be restored from the patient on the right.

And explains that:

• The patient on the left will be visible again in Patchs.
• Requests, messages, and video consultations that were transferred to the patient on the right will be restored to the patient on the left.
• The NHS number of the patient on the right will be transferred back to the patient on the left

Auto-merge

When auto-merging of patients is enabled on the practice feature settings page

If a new patient registers to use Patchs and they already exist on Patchs as a non-digital patient i.e. matching forename, surname and date of birth, the new patient will automatically be merged into the non-digital patient. For security reasons the newly registered patient cannot see the past requests and messages associated with the pre-existing non-digital patient.

A history of all patients that have been merged into the current patient is shown on the Merged Patients tab.

If the patients were merged by mistake, they can be unmerged by clicking the Undo merge button on the 'Merged Patients' tab.