The last version of the guidelines, The Good Practice Guidelines for GP electronic patient records – version 4 (GPGv4), was published in 2011 by the Department of Health & Social Care (DHSC).  These revised Guidelines (GPGv5) have been updated in accordance with a review and recommendations provided by Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP).

Each topic within GPGv5 has been written by a team with a primary care background including GPs, Practice Nurses and Practice Managers, and reviewed by subject matter experts across the NHS, selected according to the content of each topic.

Scope

GPGv5 is aimed at all those working with digital services in General Practice in England.  The guidelines do not replace existing guidance or resources, but instead show how this external guidance applies to General Practice and fits into everyday practice.

GPGv5 topics vary in both length and detail depending on the topic.  New and developing topics in General Practice, for example Genomics, are presented more as an introduction, whereas other, established topics, contain more practical detail.

GPGv5 content

Topics can be selected via the navigation side panel and are presented under nine themes.  The aim is for these Guidelines to be a dynamic library with content added and updated as necessary.  Each topic shows the latest version date, and all old versions of the topics will be archived.

Topics were produced during the merger between NHS England, NHS Digital and Health Education England in 2023.  As a result, some topics will refer to both NHS Digital and Health Education England. These references will be revised in the future as part of the scheduled reviews and when its clear how the respective websites will be managed.

If you wish to provide feedback on these guidelines, please email england.dpc.goodpracticeguidelines@nhs.net

This email address is not intended for use by members of the public, patients and their representatives who should instead contact the NHS England Customer Contact Centre – england.contactus@nhs.net

NHS colleagues and contractors should use this mailbox for queries relating to the management of the GPGv5 and should contact the relevant NSHE team or programme for further information on topic content.

Article Review Process

The business as usual process 

Requests and suggestions for changes to the Guidelines (i.e. requests for change or RFC) will come from different sources and routes, for example: 

• subject matter experts or programme leads within NHS England identify content that needs to be updated 

• readers of the content raise questions of clarity, accuracy or readability via the published email address 

• BAU programmed reviews 

• the NHS England ‘front door’ process and groups such as the Joint GP IT Liaison Committee (GPITL) 

Amendments requested or suggested outside the programmed BAU reviews will be subject to the same, rigorous, processes.   

Categorisation of topics 

Each article should be categorised and coded according to a simple three-tier structure: 

• Red, high impact topics:  

• • of a complex, political nature 

• • that could change due to policy change 

• • that are linked to funding that could change 

• Amber, generally medium impact topics: 

• • that are high profile but not sensitive or contentious 

• • where regular changes are unlikely due to the nature of the subject 

• • any changes may be low-medium impact 

• Green, low impact topics: 

• • that are generic, provide background or context 

• • where any changes are likely to have a low impact on primary care service delivery 

Categories may change over time and will need to be reviewed on an annual basis by the GPG Advisory Panel.   

An initial assessment of the level of impact associated with each topic/article and therefore its category, has been agreed by the GPG Advisory Panel. 

Programmed reviews 

The GPG Advisory Panel will meet at least quarterly.