Ardens has created a protocol to assist the reception team to easily record when a GP appointment is not available, and that signposting to an external service has taken place.  

Appointment Signposting Protocol

This protocol has been created for you to manually launch from your F12 key (please note – each individual will need to add to the F12 key).  The following support article provides further details on how to add a protocol to your F12 key.

To use the protocol, press F12 on your keyboard to open the Protocol Launcher screen and double click on the Appointments signposting protocol.

You will be presented with a Multiple Choice Question box, select the appropriate option.

You will then be presented with a Yes/No prompt to select another option if needed.

The appropriate code will be added to the Care History module of the patients record.

Appointment Signposting Searches

To locate the supporting searches, navigate to the Population Reporting module > Ardens Searches > 1.32 Administration – Appointments > Appointment Signposting folder.

The parent search will identify patients that had been coded as no GP appointment available via the protocol. The child search displays, of those patients, those who were signposted to an external service.  The associated report underneath will provide aggregated data as to which service the patient had been signposted to.

You are able to specify the timeframe for when the coding was added, using the Run Parameters box at the point of running the search.

For more information on using a parameter in a search, please see the following support article.

If you require any further assistance on the process above, please contact Ardens support on: support-emis@ardens.org.uk