Arrange appointment (direct booking)

When you log in to the e-RS web application as a referring clinician (RC) or referring clinician admin (RCA) at a referring organisation, like a GP practice, it will default to the 'Patient' tab.

To start the referral process, you must find the patient using one of the three search methods:

1. NHS number.
2. UBRN (Unique Booking Reference Number).
3. Patient details

Find the NHS number for one of your test patients and hit 'search' to retrieve the patient details.

Select 'Refer or seek advice'.

The search for a service page will be displayed.

If you are logged in as an RCA, you will need to select the delegated clinician who are creating the referral on behalf of.

Fill out the search criteria, ensuring the 'Request type' is set to 'Referral'.

Select an appropriate:

• referral priority
• specialty
• clinic type

Ensure you select a priority, specialty and clinic type you have configured as part of creating services.

The patient being referred must match the criteria for your service. Check the age and sex of the patient being referred against the restrictions on the service. For example, if the service has been restricted to females over 65 years of age, creating a referral for a 4 year old boy will not return the required service in a search.

Select 'Search'.

Supporting service search information is available within the e-RS online help.

The service search results will be displayed.

Search results can include:

1. Bookable services, which can either be Directly Bookable (DBS) or Indirectly Bookable (IBS).
2. Triage services, also known as Referral Assessment Service (RAS).

The type of service can be discovered via the service links, under 'request types'.

Find a DBS you have created and select it.

Select 'Book/Send for triage'.

4.1 Book

You should be presented with a list of available appointments.

Select an appropriate date/time from your chosen service.

4.2 Defer

In some cases, will may get the option to defer.

This can occur in scenarios where:

• the advertised appointment slot is no longer available
• the service has no available appointment slots
• no response is received within the message timeout period (currently 2 minutes)

This places the responsibility for booking the appointment on the chosen provider.

Select 'Defer appointment booking'.

5.1 Book

The review appointment page will be presented. This is an opportunity to check that all of the referral information is correct.

Click 'Book appointment' to complete the process.

At this point, the e-RS communicates with the integrated PAS to confirm the appointment booking.

You will be informed if the booking is successful.

5.2 Defer

The review details page will be presented. This is an opportunity to check that all of the referral information is correct.

Click 'Confirm' to complete the process.

At this point, the referral is sent to the chosen service for them to book an appointment, when one becomes available.

You will be informed if the deferral is successful.

In most cases, the receiving service will require a referral letter (the clinical context), in order to review and accept the referral. A referral letter can be added in several ways. In this step, we will be uploading a letter as part of the referral process.

From the previous success page, select 'Add referral letter'.

'Select a file' and navigate to the file you would like to add.

If required, repeat the step above to add multiple files up to a limit of 5MB each. There is no restriction on the number of files which can be added.

The e-RS supports a wide range of suitable file types.

Click 'Save'.

This is an optional step which prints the appointment details for a patient.

The letter includes:

• referral details (UBRN and access code)
• clinic information
• how to manage their referral online
• assisted digital support

7.1 Book

The instructions inform the patient of their appointment.

On the referral summary screen, select 'Print patient appointment details'.

The letter will be previewed on-screen. From here, you can either print the document to a local printer, or save the document to a suitable location.

Click 'Close' to complete this referral journey.

7.2 Defer

The instructions inform the patient that they have been referred and the clinic will contact them to book an appointment.

On the referral summary screen, select 'Print patient referral instructions'.

The letter will be previewed on-screen. From here, you can either print the document to a local printer, or save the document to a suitable location.

Click 'Close' to complete this referral journey.