Layout change to NHS e-Referral Service screens

In September (subject to final testing) the Maintain services tab will be renamed to Services and selecting this will present a new layout format.

Two tiles will show: 

• All services allowing the user to update or view any associated services 

• Add new service to create a new service in the Directory of Services (DoS) 

All services 

This option shows all the services associated to the user. 

A filter panel, which can be collapsed and expanded as needed, allows the results to be categorised. 

A table showing the services will provide key information including: 

• service name 

• specialty 

• location 

• published status 

• restricted  

• start date 

• end date 

If a user has a low screen resolution, Scroll buttons will appear to enable more information to be displayed. 

To review or update a service, select the service name. 

From the Manage this service screen, the service details can be viewed/updated by selecting required section.  

Each section details if it has been completed. Mandatory sections need to be completed before the service can be published.  

'Other actions' can be performed from the bottom of the screen. 

Details of any revised shrub or name changes are listed below.

All the links from this screen will be presented with a new screen layout. TA video of these changes can be viewed here.

Add new service 

Selecting the ‘Add new service’ from the Manage your services screen, will display an ‘Add a new service’ screen allowing services to be created for the organisation associated to the user. 

Selecting the ‘Start now’ button will present screens for the service information to be entered into.  

On completion of a screen the ’Continue’ button is selected. To return to a previous screen the ‘Go back’ link at the top of the screen can be chosen. Selecting ‘Cancel’ from the bottom of the screen will return to the ‘Manage you services’ screen if no information has been entered or ask if any information entered needs to be saved. 

More information on each of the service creation screens and a walk-through video can be found here.

Revised shrub/ name changes 

Other name changes

The ‘Bulk Service Updates’ tab has been renamed to ‘Batch updates’ and the layout of the associated screens updated.

Selecting the ‘Change provider system’ tile displays the services associated to the organisation logged in as.

Select the ‘System’ drop down to find the patient administration system to apply to services.

The filter section can be used to apply further filters to the results.

Once services have been chosen and the Continue button selected, a confirmation screen is displayed.

Selecting continue will show a confirmation screen.

The service definer Workgroup tab has been updated to make the screens more modern and accessible.

Previous screen:

New screen:

Each of the tiles displayed are covered below.

All workgroups

Selecting ‘All workgroups’ will list the workgroups associated with the organisation which the user is logged into e-RS as. Note that the ODS code is no longer displayed before the workgroup name.

Selecting a workgroup will open a screen where the workgroup can be managed. The workgroup name can be amended, users added/removed or the workgroup deleted.

The actions which can be performed from this screen are detailed below.

1. After renaming a workgroup name and/or selecting to add/remove users, selecting ‘Save’ from the ‘Manage this workgroup’ screen, will display the ‘All workgroups’ screen confirming the changes have been saved.

2.  When deleting a workgroup the following warning message appears.

Selecting ‘Delete’ returns to the ‘All workgroups’ screen confirming the changes.

3.  When adding a user to a workgroup, select ‘Add user’. This provides a screen where user's Last name field and selecting a Role needs to be completed as a minimum, to enable the ‘Search’ button.

The search results will be shown under the criteria with an ‘Add’ option to add the user to the workgroup.

Once the user has been added to the workgroup this will appear in the ‘New workgroup users’ section below the search results.

Selecting ‘Confirm’ will display the ‘All workgroups’ screen confirming the changes.

Search by user

Selecting the search by user tile will present the ‘Search for a user’ screen. The users Last name field and selecting a Role needs to be completed as a minimum, to enable the ‘Search’ button.

The search results will be shown under the criteria.  

Selecting the user name will open a screen displaying the workgroups the user is associated with.

Selecting a workgroup will display the ‘Manage this workgroup’ screen. Review the information above regarding performing actions on this screen.

Once the ‘Save’ button is selected the user screen will appear to allow further actions to be undertaken on other workgroups if necessary.

Add new workgroup

Selecting the ’Add new workgroup’ tile opens a screen where the new workgroup name can be added and saved.

Users can also be added from this screen. Refer to the ‘Adding a user to a workgroup’ section above.

The previous ‘Organisation Details’ tab has been renamed to ‘Additional requirements’ and the option on the to add ‘Aliases’ has been removed, due to minimal usage.

Previous screen:

New screen:

Selecting a location displays the ‘Set additional requirements’ screen, where requirements can be set.

Users with referring roles or BMS admin roles can view appointments in a diary view when they are reviewing the service options to book or rebook an appointment request. When selecting ‘Find more appointments’, for a directly bookable service with available appointment slots that has been selected for a referral shortlist, will navigate to the diary view.

The ‘Find more appointments’ option will only display when there are more appointments to show.

Selecting this option will display a calendar view for appointments within the service.

The selected service details are displayed at the top of the screen.

Where an appointment is being rebooked the current appointment information will be shown.

The initial month displayed will be the month for the first available appointment, with an option to move to the next month. The option to move to a previous month will show where the month is not in the past.

A 'Today' label is displayed on the current date of the calendar.

Where appointment slots are available these dates will be shaded on the calendar in white. Where appointment slots are not available, or the date is in the past these dates will be shaded in a grey.

Once an available day has been selected the date is shaded blue and a table is displayed below the calendar with a sub header of the day. This table shows the appointment time in ascending order and the ‘Select’ option next to each appointment. Once the ‘Select’ option is chosen the screen will return to the ‘Review service options’ screen.

To return to the ‘Review service options’ screen without choosing an appointment use the ‘Go back to Review service option’ link at the top left of the screen.

If a date is selected on the calendar where no appointments are available or the date is in the past a message will be shown below the calendar detailing this.

After the system has been updated, drop-in sessions will take place week commencing 12 May 2025 for users to ask questions regarding the changes to the layout of the referrer screens. Details on how to attend a session can be found on an e-RS notification issued on 29 April.

Please note, we will not be demonstrating any details of the changes on this webinar, so please ensure you have reviewed the above information and watched the overview video prior to attending one of these sessions.

The high level changes are described below. These screens and further information is also covered in the supporting video (duration 4 mins).

The worklist dashboard has been updated and some information moved to different areas of the screen.

The new layout includes:

1. The worklist cards next to or below each other depending on the screen resolution.
2. Each card shows the number of referrals or requests on each worklist.
3. The ‘New’ label is being replaced with an ‘Unread’ label.  This will still indicate how many referrals or advice requests that remain unread or unopened by your organisation.

Some of the worklists are being renamed:

When a specific worklist is selected, the worklist name is displayed at the top, with the total number of UBRNs shown in brackets next to the name. Below the name is the number of unread UBRNs which corresponds with the UBRNs highlighted with a red dot/UBRN highlighted in the worklist.

Drop-in sessions will take place week commencing 12 May 2025 for users to ask questions regarding the changes to the layout of the referrer screens. Details on how to attend a session can be found on an e-RS notification issued on 29 April.

Please note, we will not be demonstrating any details of the changes on this webinar, so please ensure you have reviewed the above information and watched the overview video prior to attending one of these sessions.

The high level changes are described below. These screens and further information is also covered in the supporting video (duration 5 mins).

The service search screen has been updated.

Key changes:

1. Users will be required to select the request type.
2. The option to search by clinical term is being removed.

When selecting the ‘Search’ button any mandatory information not entered, will be highlighted in an error message, indicating the information needed to proceed.

If the search criteria needs to be refined further, the 'Add more search details' section can be expanded:

Drop-in sessions will take place week commencing 12 May 2025 for users to ask questions regarding the changes to the layout of the referrer screens. Details on how to attend a session can be found on an e-RS notification issued on 29 April.

Please note, we will not be demonstrating any details of the changes on this webinar, so please ensure you have reviewed the above information and watched the overview video prior to attending one of these sessions.

The high level changes are described below. These screens and further information is also covered in the supporting video (duration 5 mins).

The current ‘Book/Send for Triage screen’ showing selected shortlisted services has been updated with a new ‘Referral service search results’ screen.

Key changes:

1. All action buttons, currently at the bottom of the screen have moved to a new green ‘Select action’ button.
2. All services can be chosen using the check boxes meaning there will no longer be a ‘Send for Triage’ button against individual triage services.
3. The current ‘Miles’ column header now shows as ‘Distance’.
4. To improve the layout of important information, the appointment type, Service name and Location has been merged into the ‘Service’ column.
5. ‘Referrer alert’ has been renamed to ‘Notes for referrer’ and the information displayed in the column rather than a hover over.
6. The option to organise the results by organisation has been removed due to minimal usage. Please use the ‘Add more search details’ section under the previous ‘Search for a Service’ screen if you need to search for services under a specific organisation or location.  
7. Once the appropriate services have been selected the ‘Select action’ button will offer the options to ‘Shortlist only’ (which is currently the ‘Request’ button) or ‘Book/send for triage’.

A confirmation screen is shown once submitted. This screen will vary depending on whether the patient has a fully verified NHS Login account.

Drop-in sessions will take place week commencing 12 May 2025 for users to ask questions regarding the changes to the layout of the referrer screens. Details on how to attend a session can be found on an e-RS notification issued on 29 April.

Please note, we will not be demonstrating any details of the changes on this webinar, so please ensure you have reviewed the above information and watched the overview video prior to attending one of these sessions.  

The high level changes are described below. These screens and further information is also covered in the supporting video (duration 10 mins).

Booking

The current ‘Book/send for triage screen’ has been replaced with a new ‘review service options’ screen.

Key features:

1. Each selected service will appear in a card format showing information about each individual service. Selecting the service name provides more information about the service.
2. In the service details section more information on average treatment wait and CQC rating will be displayed where available.
3. For directly bookable services a ‘Book an appointment’ section will display the first six available slots.
4. The option to view multiple services appointment slots in diary view is no longer available.
5. When booking, rebooking, triaging and deferring, review check screens display:
   • a prominent yellow banner explaining the state of the referral
   • information about the appointment or service type (for example, triage)
   • referred to service information
   • an action button

Below is an example of a referral being booked into a directly bookable service:

When booking or rebooking an appointment, triaging or deferring, confirmation screens are display:

• details on what happens next with the referral
• any appointment details, where applicable
• information for the patient
• links for further actions, for example emailing or printing information for the patient and/or adding a referral letter

Deferring

When a bookable service is chosen and there are no appointments available the ‘Defer appointment booking’ button is presented.

Select this option to defer the appointment to the chosen provider. Once selected a Review details screen is shown.

Once the information has been reviewed and any information relating to the patient’s availability has been added, selecting the green confirm button will present the confirmation screen.

Triaging

Where the patient wishes their referral to be sent to a triage service select the ‘Request triage’ option:

A 'review details screen' will appear, selecting the green confirm button will present the confirmation screen.

Rebooking

When rebooking an appointment for the patient, the current booked appointment information is displayed, along with any services included on the original shortlist of services.

As with the other processes, once an alternative service and/or date has been selected a 'review new appointment' screen is shown. This presents the new appointment details and the reason for rebooking, which should be completed.  

A confirmation screen will show once the ‘Rebook appointment’ button has been selected.

Drop-in sessions will take place week commencing 12 May 2025 for users to ask questions regarding the changes to the layout of the referrer screens. Details on how to attend a session can be found on an e-RS notification issued on 29 April.

Please note, we will not be demonstrating any details of the changes on this webinar, so please ensure you have reviewed the above information and watched the overview video prior to attending one of these sessions.

answer any questions.  

The high level changes are described below. These screens and further information is also covered in the supporting video (duration 7 mins).

Creating advice and guidance request

When creating a new advise request, the current ‘Service selection’ screen has been updated with a new ‘Advice service search results’ screen.

Key changes:

1. All action buttons, at the bottom of the screen, have been moved to a new green ‘Request advice’ button.
2. The current ‘Miles’ column header now shows as ‘Distance’.
3. To improve the layout of important information, the appointment type, Service name and Location has been merged into the ‘Service’ column.
4. ‘Referrer alert’ has been renamed to ‘Notes for referrer’ and the information displays in the column rather than a hover icon.
5. ‘Indicative appointment wait’ column has been removed.
6. ‘Indicative treatment wait’ header has been renamed to ‘Average treatment wait time’.
7. ‘Request’ button has been renamed to ‘Request advice’.

Sending an advice and guidance request

The current ‘Advice request’ screen has been updated with a new ‘Making an advice request’ screen which displays information more clearly.

Key changes:

1. The status of the advice request is displayed.
2. If required, select 'what type of files can I upload' to see details of valid attachments.
3. If required, select 'more information' relating to authorising this advice request to be converted to a referral.
4. ‘Send request’ button has been renamed to ‘Send message’.
5. When selecting the ‘Send message’ button any mandatory information not entered, will be highlighted in an error message, indicating the information needed to proceed.

Reviewing an advice and guidance request

Key changes:

1. The current ‘Advice Request Details’ screen has been updated with a new ‘Advice summary’ screen.
2. The status of the advise request is displayed.
3. The ‘Select action’ button presents all the actions available for the request status.
4. Clinical information section shows all documents attached through a GP clinical system.

Ending an advice and guidance request

Key changes:

1. End conversation check screen.
2. The status of the advise request is displayed.
3. New banner detailing when the request was ended and the user who undertook the action.

Converting an advice and guidance request to a referral

Key changes:

1. The status of the advise request is displayed.
2. If needing to convert this advice request to a referral, choose 'Create referral' from the green ‘Select action’ button.

Drop-in sessions will take place week commencing 12 May 2025 for users to ask questions regarding the changes to the layout of the referrer screens. Details on how to attend a session can be found on an e-RS notification issued on 29 April.

Please note, we will not be demonstrating any details of the changes on this webinar, so please ensure you have reviewed the above information and watched the overview video prior to attending one of these sessions.

The Enquiries tab for service definers was renamed to ‘Quick search’. 

Selecting Quick search will display a new screen as shown below:

The new Quick Search tab allows users to search for information on: 

• services  
• slot availability

Please note that the restricted services enquiry is no longer available.

How the new searches are displayed 

1. Service search (formally service directory).

The image below shows the Service Directory search screen prior to the update. 

The new Search option allows users to find specific services. Select Services and complete the required fields within the new Search for a Service screen as appropriate and select ‘Search’.

The search results are displayed.  

‘No results found’ will be displayed if there are no services matching the search criteria. 

Selecting the service name will display further information about the service. 

Select ‘Go back’ option to return to the search results screen. 

2. Check Slot Availability search.

The image below shows the Slot Availability search screen prior to the update. 

The new Check Slot Availability search has been changed to make all the sections mandatory to perform a search. The option to search for a specific service has been removed.

If any of the mandatory sections are incomplete when searching an error message will be displayed highlighting which sections are missing.

The image below shows the slot availability results.

Selecting the service name will display further information about the service. 

The view referral history screen prior to the changes:

This change included:

1. Referrer and BMS Admin users now see the Referral history displayed in a new format as displayed in the image below:

2. Updated wording for each action which is described in the table below. The changes to the action wording are reflected for all users, including providers. However only referring and BMS users can see this referral history displayed in the new format

3. Action wording changes have been updated in the e-RS data extract (EBSX03), as described below.