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Advice and guidance for service definers

The NHS e-Referral Service (e-RS) allows service definers to set up advice and guidance services to support clinicians managing patients through complex care pathways.

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Practical information on how to use advice and guidance

To use advice and guidance, you should:

  • review current services with clinicians, wherever possible, to fully engage them with e-RS
  • use the service directory enquiry to access internal advice and guidance services in an easy to read format, for example: by speciality
  • confirm with clinicians and e-RS leads or service managers that existing services are profiled appropriately, and new services are correct, before publishing
  • review external local and national services, using the Directory of Services tab (via the service provider clinician/admin role), to find other services that are set up as advice and guidance
  • use the extract EBSX05 (combined with others) using the information analyst role
  • ensure that local commissioners (ICBs) are kept informed about new and updated advice and guidance services

Learn more about advice and guidance by using the e-RS training pages or help files.  

What service definers can do

We have created a high level guide to using advice and guidance for service definers.  

Guidance

Understand local and national data within e-RS to analyse existing advice and guidance services by:

Planning and commissioning

Work with e-RS leads, service managers and clinicians to:

  • review and revise existing advice and guidance services, to ensure they are functioning optimally

Decide on how advice and guidance services are going to be set up. This could be:

  • an appointment and advice and guidance service (including a pathway to a restricted service) or an advice and guidance only service
  • available locally on the primary care menu (these services will need to be commissioned) or nationally on the secondary care menu
Implementation
  • give consultants and other professional users access for relevant advice and guidance clinics by adding them to relevant workgroups 
  • ensure services are published and available to referrers, by checking the service directory enquiry, or the DOS (service definers will need to ask a user with another role, for example service provider clinician or administrator or commissioner, to look at services on the DOS)

Last edited: 10 October 2024 1:57 pm