Registering In County Patients on the Referrals Index (RI)

A thorough search of the Referrals Index must be completed to ascertain if the patient is registered. If you have not found the patient you can proceed to register the patient.

For mandatory data fields press the F1 key for Help.

Names that contain hyphens or apostrophes leave a space, for example O’Keefe must be entered as O Keefe.

• Surname, - Enter the patient's current surname.
• Nee/Aliases, - Enter the patient’s name at birth (if applicable). NB: the cursor skips past this field - pressing F2 key at the forename field will take you there.
• Forename, - Enter the patient’s forename in full – Do Not enter an initial or a ‘nickname’.
• 2nd Forename, - Enter patient’s second forename.
• 3rd Forename, - Enter patient’s third forename.
• DOB/AGE, - Enter the patient’s date of birth , for example 1 1 0 4 6 0.
• Sex, - Enter the patient’s sex.
• Title, - Free text entry, for example MASTER, MR, MISS, MRS, Mx (pronounced Mix for Indeterminate) etc. MUST be entered. Please also ask the question “How would you like to be addressed?”.

The following titles should be used:

Males

• Up to the age of 16 Master must be entered.
• For age 16 onwards Mr must be applied unless you are advised otherwise, for example Dr, Sir etc.

Females

• Up to the age of 16 Miss must be entered.
• For age 16 onwards - update as advised. eg Mrs, Ms, Dr etc.

Note, - whilst checking the patient demographic details users must check the Civil status against the title field, for example if Miss is entered as a title but the Civil status is showing Married please double check this with the patient and update as required.

• Civil Status, - Enter as appropriate, press the F1 key for Help.
• Permanent Address, - You MUST enter the patient’s permanent address using the Quick Address System (Q Ay S ) by typing the Ctrl+F7 keys, PAS Patient Registration - Quick Address System
• Postcode , - already entered via the Q Ay S .
• District , - DO NOT USE
• Cur Tel, - Enter the patient's contact number including the S T D code.
• Mob Tel, - Enter a mobile number if one is available. If a mobile number is given we will use this to send text messages regarding outpatient and inpatient appointments unless they inform us that they do not wish to be communicated using this method. Sending these messages has helped reduce DNA rates.
• Txt Consent, - If a mobile number is entered this field will become mandatory. Enter Y for Yes unless the patient has informed us they do not want to be communicated via mobile phone. A patient has the right to decline this service. Note Text messaging from NHS.NET is not live in all specialties as yet.
• NHS Number, - DO NOT USE
• NEW NHS Number, - This must be entered if known. If the prompt ‘This number is already used’ appears, press the F3 key to return back to the menu and search using the New NHS number, your patient should be on the system.
• Number(s), - The R.I. number is automatically allocated. To allocate a patient number type CR in field 15, press the Enter or Return keys and a CR number will be allocated to the patient.
• GP and Practice, - PAS Patient Registration - Entering / Amending GP Details

Type Ay to Accept the information entered

If a patient already exists on the RI with details matching those you have just entered the following message will appear:
‘A patient with these details already exists. Continue?’ Answer N. Return to the R.I Patient Details screen and search again for the patient.

Remember to enter the Religion, Ethnic Category, Occupation and Next of Kin details on the appropriate screens.