GP Connect Send Document Enablement for EMIS Web PCN Hubs

As part of NHS England's GP Connect Programme, and after a successful rollout to GP organisations, GP Connect Send Document is now available to all EMIS Web PCN Hubs.  

Before activating this functionality, please ensure that your organisation has met the following prerequisites: 

• Has an ODS code  
• Is PDS enabled  
• Uses NHS smartcards  
• Has a MESH mailbox  
• Has completed the NHS England Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT)
• Has signed the National Data Sharing Agreement (NDSA). You must have already completed the DSPT before signing the NDSA. 

Once these prerequisites are met, you can activate GP Connect Send Document in EMIS Web Organisation Configuration. 

Instructions on how to do this is available on EMIS Now under “Consultation back to the patient's registered GP Practice”, or in the attached PDF. If you experience any issues activating this functionality, please contact the Service Desk. 

GP Connect Send Document functionality supports joined-up collaborative working by sending a consultation summary back to the patient’s registered GP practice when a consultation has been recorded in another care setting (i.e. extended GP hours services). The consultation summary is sent as a PDF in an unstructured format, which creates a Workflow Document Management task at the patient’s registered GP practice that requires a review before filing. 

All GP practices in England have already been enabled to receive these messages via their MESH mailbox. GP Connect Send Document is designed to support situations where patients are seen from out of area and even nationally, so it is important that practices who will receive GP Connect messages are consulted and made aware prior to any being sent. We also recommend consulting with your local Network and Governance leads to assess your local processes before activation of Send Document.  

We have Consultation Write Back, so why do we need GP Connect Send Document? 

GP Connect Send Document functionality compliments Consultation Write Back but is mainly intended for use between different clinical IT systems.  

Send Document’s primary use is for sending consultation summaries between practices in a PCN, or from an Extended Access Hub back to the patient’s registered practice, where both organisations involved use different clinical systems. Where both GP Connect Send Document and Consultation Write Back are enabled, and the patient is registered at an EMIS Web practice, consultations recorded at the EMIS Web PCN Hub will be sent back to the patient's registered practice using Consultation Write Back. If the patient is registered at a non-EMIS Web practice, then Send Document will take priority. 

Within PCN Hubs which are 100% EMIS Web, it may be preferrable to send PDF consultation summaries for review before filing, rather than the consultation being automatically filed into their patient’s care record. If this is the case, we would recommend only enabling GP Connect Send Document functionality at your EMIS Web PCN Hub. 

You can find a helpful table explaining the differences between Consultation Writeback and GP Connect Send Document on EMIS Now.