How to add a referral and add a patient to a waiting list for a patient who has not been previously registered to the Trust

1. From the Conversation menu option on the left, double click to select Outpatient Referral
2. Search for your patient. If you do not have an NHS number, enter your patient’s initials and DOB; clicking Search to look for your patient – please see the guide Search Techniques for tips on correct search methods
3. Once you are satisfied that this is a new patient you will be registering, choose Add Patient.
4. The Organisation field requires you to add the hospital where you are based, this example shows the RVI: Type the letter R, click the magnifying glass to display and select Royal Victoria Infirmary

5. A warning will ask if you are absolutely certain this is a new patient you are registering. If you are uncertain that this is a new patient, select Yes – please refer to the How To guide “Search Techniques” for tips on searching and search for your patient again. If you are certain this is a new patient that hasn’t been seen at this Trust in the past, select No
6. The Add Person form will display. All yellow fields are Mandatory fields. You must complete these fields in order to add the referral
7. If you cannot see the mandatory fields, right-click anywhere in the grey area of the form and select Highlight Required Fields 
8. Add the Patient NHS Number – although this is not a mandatory field, if the patient NHS Number is known, it should be added to the patient record. If you had searched for your patient using initials and Date of Birth, you must complete the patient Surname and First Name
9. Complete the following fields:
   1. Date of Birth
   2. Gender
   3. Ethnic Category
   4. UK Resident for 12 months?
   5. Administrative Category (this will default to NHS if you selected Yes to the previous ‘UK Resident for 12 months?’ question)

GP Details

1. The next field to complete is the GP. You must associate a GP Practice with the patient GP, otherwise the patient cannot be saved
2. In the GP Details field, type the name of the GP you wish to find and click the magnifying glass to search

3. In the top part of the screen, select the correct GP
4. At the bottom of this screen select the correct GP Practice – click OK. This will complete both the GP and the GP practice

Telephone Number

1. Although this is NOT a mandatory field, a telephone number should be completed if known. If the patient has a mobile number but not a home number, you should add NK into the home number field and the mobile number into the Mobile Phone field
2. The options are Home Phone / Mobile phone / Work Phone. If the patient phone number is not known, or they do not have a telephone, YOU MUST ENTER NK into the home phone field. Do not add a series of digits or a mobile number into the Home Phone field. If the patient has a mobile number but not a home number, you should add NK into the home number field and the mobile number into the Mobile Phone field as this assists the DNA Reminder Service

Home Address

1. To add a new Home Address click the small arrow to the left of Home (0) in the Address Organiser in the lower part of the screen

2. Click the blue plus button to open the Address Viewer

3. From the Residence drop-down menu. select the UK Residence for addresses in the UK. For addresses outside the UK select Free Text.

4. For UK Residences, click on the Address Search button 
5. For addresses outside the UK you will have to complete the address fields manually. Skip to step 8 when you have finished.
6. Enter the Postcode, the search will then occur automatically

6. Expand the postcode using the small plus button to the left of the search result. You may have to repeat this step again if there are several residences at the postcode you have selected
7. Select the relevant flat/ house number and click Accept to the top right 
8. The address details should now show on the form. Close this by clicking OK and return to the Add Patient screen

Referral Details

1. Click the Referral Details tab and complete the following fields:
   1. Source of Referral – Where the Referral has come from.  If the referral has come from:
   2. Referring Clinician – If a GP has referred, this field will auto-populate.  If not GP, use the magnifying glass to locate the referring clinician typing the surname and first name of the referring clinician.  If the referring clinician is not found, use NotKnown – Referring Clinician Not Known
   3. Priority Type – Routine or Urgent
   4. Booking Type – Full Booking
   5. Refer To – Select the staff group (eg. Named Consultant, Pooled Consultant etc)
   6. Lead Clinician – Type theSurname of the Lead Clinician, click the magnifying glass, double click to select the correct clinician
   7. Treatment Function – Select the correct treatment from the dropdown list 
   8. List Type – Specialty (OP)
   9. Referral Received Date – The date that the Referral was received within the Trust
   10. RTT Status – the RTT Status defaults to 10 for a first, new appointment – this may need to be changed to  for example: 98- Activity Not Applic to Treat Period for all referrals that are excluded from the 18 week pathway eg. maternity

Guardian/ Parental Responsibility

1. Click the Guardian/ Parental Responsibility tab and complete as much information as you can
2. Parent/Guardian Confirmation – If you are unable to confirm the Parent/ Guardian or the patient has refused to provide the information then stop at this point.
3. Complete the demographic information, contact and address details as fully as possible. If the Parent/ Guardian is also registered with the Trust you can use the ‘Search for Relation….‘ button to search for their details
4. If the patient is a minor you should complete the ‘Is the Child in Public Care?‘ field at the bottom of the screen

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Updated: 5 July 2024