Providers of directly bookable services

Referrals will appear on the Referrals for Review worklist once an appointment is booked and referral letter/clinical information attached.

All actions carried out for referrals (such as appointments) created in the NHS Service (e-RS) should be managed/changed using e-RS. Where the service is directly bookable, any such changes will automatically be updated in e-RS.

With the worklists tab open, use the filters available to view appropriate referrals.

You can filter referrals by worklist, service, clinician, speciality, location and referral type.

Reviewing referrals

To review a referral:

1. Select an appropriate UBRN to review. This opens the referral and shows a summary of the referral details.
2. If a referrer sends clinical referral information from their GP system, then the Clinical Information column will display this as a series of headings. It can be viewed by selecting each heading and/or printed by selecting the Clinical Information Summary option from the Print button dropdown.
3. Otherwise referral letters will be located in and accessed via the Attachments section.
4. Clicking on the blue hyperlink to open/review/print the referral letter.

Accepting referrals

To accept a referral:

1. Once you have reviewed the referral and decided it is clinically appropriate for the clinic, select Accept, Review Next in the Review Referral Summary screen.
2. When you accept a referral, e-RS will automatically show the next UBRN on the worklist for review.

Once accepted, the referral will be removed from the worklist. To find a referral after it’s been accepted you can use the Patient Enquiry with either the patient’s NHS number or appropriate UBRN.

Rejecting referrals

Once you have reviewed the referral and decided that it is clinically inappropriate for the clinic:

1. Select Reject in the Review Referral Summary screen.
2. Select a reason from the Reason dropdown list and enter further information in the comments field.
3. This information will be visible to the referrer and help them understand why the referral has been rejected.
4. Select Reject Referral, Review Next.
5. The appointment will automatically be cancelled in your PAS.

Once rejected, the referral will be removed from the worklist. You will be able to find it via the Patient Enquiry but only for six months after the rejection.

There are several reasons and options when changing an appointment. Whenever you change an appointment the patient should be involved in the process.

 Option 1: rebooking an appointment

To rebook an appointment:

• in the Referrals for Review worklist, find the appropriate UBRN and open it
• from the actions available select the Change Appointment Date/Time option
• select an appropriate appointment and click Book
• you must enter a reason for rebooking the appointment and add any appropriate comments
• click Submit
• click Close on the next screen to complete the rebooking

This will automatically accept the referral. You can find the referral using the Patient Enquiry.

Option 2: cancel appointment, rebook later

This option will cancel the patient’s appointment and make it available for booking at a later time:

1. Open the referral in the Referrals for Review worklist.
2. Select the Change Appointment Date/Time button.
3. In the Book/Send for Triage screen select Cancel Appointment, Rebook Later.
4. You will be prompted with a warning message and you will need to click Yes to proceed.
5. Complete the Appointment request details screen.
6. Select Submit.
7. Click Close on the next screen, which cancels the appointment.

The referral can be found on the Appointments for Booking worklist.

Option 3: request admin to rebook

This option allows the appointment or the service to be changed: 

1. Open the referral in the Referrals for Review worklist.
2. Select the Request Admin to Rebook button.
3. Complete the Record Triage Outcome box - comments/instructions for the admin staff must be entered and options are available to add attachments and amend the priority, if required.
4. Select Submit to return to the Referrals for Review worklist.

The referral can be found on the Appointments for Booking worklist. Find out more about the request admin to rebook function.

The Patient Enquiry will allow you to view and action a patient’s referral. All of the actions in this Quick Reference Guide can also be carried out using the Patient Enquiry.

To open a referral via the Patient Enquiry:

1. Select the Enquiries tab.
2. Click on the Enquiry Type dropdown.
3. Select Patient Enquiry.
4. Input either the patient’s NHS number or an appropriate UBRN to search for the referral.
5. Click on the Search button.
6. Select the correct UBRN and view the available actions from the Actions dropdown list.
7. Any actions displayed are dependent on the referral’s previous activity.
8. The view history option will allow you to see a complete audit trail of each referral associated with your service(s).