NHS e-Referral Service
The NHS e-Referral Service (ERS) is an
History
The release date was delayed by seven months from that originally announced after it failed an assessment by the Government Digital Service.[3] When released there were 33 ‘known issues".[4] The system went live on Monday 15 Jun 2015, but on 17 June it was shut down and GPs across England resorted to fax machines in order to refer patients.[5] After launch, the system experienced numerous outages in its first weeks.[6][7] In July 2015 users were advised to switch to Google Chrome in order to reduce the four-minute loading time to 50 seconds. Of the 28 known issues at that date, 23 have a simple workaround that can be used which are published on the website, according to the Health and Social Care Information Centre.[8]
19 Trusts were fully using the system. From October 2018 it is to be used for all out-patient referrals, and it is hoped that this will halve the number of missed appointments and generate savings of at least £50 million.[9]
Operation
The NHS e-Referral Service supports referrals to
References
- ^ "News Archives - Government Computing Network".
- ^ a b Morriss, Emma (14 December 2018). "NHS e-Referral Service makes its 100 millionth online booking". Pharmafield. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
- ^ "NHS delays e-Referral service launch until 2015". Computerworld. 6 October 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
- ^ "NHS admits 33 'known issues' with e-Referral service launched today". Computerworld. 15 June 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
- ^ "For fax's sake: Medic chaos as e-Referrals system goes offline". The register. 17 June 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
- ^ "News Archives - Government Computing Network".
- ^ "BZZZT! NHS e-Referral system flatlines again".
- ^ "BZZZT! NHS e-Referral system flatlines again". The register. 13 July 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
- ^ "Mandatory electronic patient referrals to save NHS millions". Healthcare Leader. 27 March 2017. Retrieved 27 May 2018.