Please note the following feature is in pilot, and your GP practice will be notified when it is due to be rolled out to you.
Refer a request to a partner practice, and keep track of it until it comes back.
Practices that work together can now pass a patient's request to a partner practice without asking the patient to submit it again. The receiving practice sees the request in an inbox you choose, and can return it to you when they have finished.
This article explains how to refer a request, what each practice sees, and how to return or recall a request.
Before You Start
You can only refer requests to practices that are in the same referral group as yours. A Practice group manager sets this up, and the steps are in Setting Up Referral Groups and Out-of-Hours Partners.
This feature is switched on by Patchs. To ask about using it at your practice, contact your Account Manager or OneAdvanced Support.
When you refer a request, it becomes read-only at your practice. You cannot reply to the patient or change the request until the partner practice returns it, or you ask for it back.
How to Refer a Request
1. Open the request
Open the request you want to refer from your inbox. In the panel on the left, find the Refer to another practice card.
2. Choose the practice and inbox
Under Refer to, choose the partner practice. Then, under Send to inbox, choose the inbox at that practice where the request should land.
Click Refer request.
3. Add a note and confirm
A confirmation window shows which practice and inbox you are referring the request to. You can add a note for the receiving practice, for example to say when the patient is available. The note is optional.
If your practice's clinical system is connected, you are also asked Save referral note to the clinical system? Choose Yes or No.
Click Confirm to refer the request, or Cancel to go back without referring it.
Note: Patchs records the referral in the clinical system at both practices. If the save to the receiving practice's record does not work, you see a warning saying so. The referral still goes through, and the save to your own practice's record is not affected.
Finding Requests You Have Referred
4. Open the Referred away inbox
Requests you have referred leave your normal inboxes. You can find them in the Referred away inbox, which you reach from the Show inbox for list. It shows the date, the patient, the request type and the practice each request was referred to. A Recall requested label shows next to any request you have asked to have returned.
5. Open a referred request
Click a request to open it. A banner at the top shows which practice it was referred to. The request is read-only at your practice while it is with them.
What the Receiving Practice Sees
The request arrives in the inbox you chose. A banner at the top reads Request referred from followed by your practice name, so staff know where it came from. The receiving practice can work on the request as normal.
Asking for a Request Back
If you need a referred request back before the partner practice has finished with it, open the request from Referred away and click Request recall. The card then shows that you are waiting for a response from the partner practice.
The partner practice sees a Recall request card with the message that your practice has requested the request back. They can choose:
- Accept recall: the request returns to your practice.
- Reject recall: the request stays with them. You see a message saying your recall request was rejected, and you can click Request recall to ask again.
Returning a Request to the Originating Practice
6. Click Return request
When the receiving practice has finished, open the request and find the Return to originating practice card. Click Return request.
7. Add a note and confirm
You can add a note for the originating practice, for example to say the patient has been booked in. The note is optional. Click Confirm to return the request, or Cancel to keep it.
Note: Once you return a request, it is no longer visible at your practice. You cannot get it back unless the originating practice refers it to you again.
Best Practice Guidance
- Tell the receiving practice what they need to know in the referral note, such as urgency or when the patient is available.
- Check the practice and inbox before you click Confirm. A referred request is read-only until it comes back.
- Agree with your partner practices who watches the receiving inbox, so referred requests are not missed.
- Test the process with a dummy patient before you use it for real requests.
- Follow your practice's clinical safety process for urgent requests, and do not rely on a referral alone to make sure an urgent request is seen.