- Reducing missed appointments due to improved patient choice and self-service, as well as the auto-allocation of short notice cancellations.
- Pre-consultation questionnaires and experience or outcome measures via the NHS app, which supports delivery of care.
- Supports delivery of more personalised care.
- Reduces unutilised clinic time.
- Enables clinicians to provide a central point of access to communications, documents, and pre-appointment questionnaires to support PIFU (Patient Initiated Follow Up).
- Trusts will be able to communicate digitally with patients, who in turn will be more informed about their care and wait times.
PEP+ (Patient Engagement Portal Plus)
Hospital Trusts in Lancashire and South Cumbria will soon be rolling out PEP+ (Patient Engagement Portal Plus) to patients. PEP+ is an online platform that gives patients more control of their hospital care experience. It allows them to access relevant information at the touch of a button, schedule appointments when they need them and communicate with their clinical team if needed.
Information for staff
PEP+ will be rolled out across all hospital Trusts in Lancashire and South Cumbria by March 2024. Further updates and training opportunities will be shared with staff over the coming months.
In readiness for roll-out, we would encourage all staff to find out more about PEP+ and watch a video of what the portal can offer here.
PEP+ has seven key functions that patients can access:
- View appointments: including location, date and appointment type.
- A single point of contact with services currently overseeing a patient’s care.
- Local guidance to help prepare for upcoming appointments or procedures.
- The ability to cancel or amend appointment bookings at some Trusts
- A portal for clinical letters and communications.
- Support for patients e.g. questionnaires regarding their condition(s), general health and wellbeing surveys and the ability to review their experience.
- Notifications to patients regarding their care or condition(s) from their care team.
PEP+ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- Patients have control of their appointment booking and are empowered to take a more active part in their care.
- PEP+ is fully integrated with the NHS App, offering a single point of access to their personal healthcare journey.
- Patients can access their care plans and clinic letters, reducing phone calls, queries and requests to admin teams and primary care.
- It offers support and resources for patients to access while waiting for follow up appointments, surgery or post treatment.
- Improved overall patient experience.
Training will be provided prior to roll out through demos, webinars and step by step guides. Further information will be provided nearer to go live.
Roll out has started across Lancashire and South Cumbria. Look out for further updates via your hospital website and communications team.
The national ambition is for all acute hospitals to provide a patient portal, a secure digital solution for patients to access personal health information, arrange appointments and other administrative functionalities that will be linked to the NHS App. Funding has been made available from the government to purchase and rollout the PEP solution across Lancashire and South Cumbria, ensuring we are fit for the future using modern technology.
Patient communication will be circulated to GP practices, on hospital websites and in patient waiting areas to promote the patient portal and its benefits to patients. This is a nationally funded portal linking in with the NHS App for patients to access. Further updates will be circulated during the coming months.
National directive that all acute non-specialised trusts within England must have a patient engagement portal in place by March 2024. This will help to facilitate elective recovery in terms of validation, PIFU, reducing missed appointments, efficiency of booking/cancelled slots.
PEP+ Demo: Login
PEP+ Demo: My Details
PEP+ Demo: Bookings
PEP Demo Forms and Leaflets
PEP+ Demo: Set for Surgery
PEP Demo PIFU