NHS e-Referral Service (e-RS)
The NHS e-Referral Service (e-RS) is an electronic, web-based, advice and referral support tool, designed to make it easy for general practice in England to manage patients who may need referral for onward care.
e-RS overview
Through e-RS, referrals can be made into both consultant-led outpatient clinics and non-consultant-led services such as community, diagnostic, assessment, and GP with special interest (GPwSI) services. It is also used widely at the interface between primary and secondary care for advice and guidance (A&G) and referral triage services (see below).
From a patient perspective, it provides a way to make appointments at a time and place of their choice, which comes with several benefits for general practice and the wider NHS. It should be noted, however, that demand for services, staff shortages, etc., can impact on clinic and appointment availability and, therefore, patient choice. This sometimes means that the patient may decide to book the first available appointment rather than a preferred provider and/or location.
Patients who have an NHS login account are now able to receive information via email – their first outpatient appointment request (instead of, or as well as, the traditional letter), referrals requiring booking, referrals waiting to be triaged by the chosen provider, referrals waiting for an appointment to be booked by the chosen provider and referral information on booked appointments.
These emails will come from e-RS, not the GP practice email system.
The service has been designed to be implemented flexibly, reflecting the fact that referrals are handled differently in different practices. It undergoes regular development and improvement according to user needs and feedback.
Two-week-wait appointments
As a best practice principle, administrators or referrers should liaise with patients to book two-week-wait appointments at the time of referral creation.
The ‘two-week wait’ or ‘urgent’ appointment was introduced so that a specialist would see any patient with symptoms that might indicate cancer as quickly as possible. Referrals into this service are made on a standard referral form specific to the local commissioning group.
Practices should monitor these referrals and ensure patients have been provided with information about the service at point of referral, as well as monitoring outcomes to ensure that patients have attended their appointments. Provision of patient information about this service is a contractual requirement with a current target of 95%.
For more information and guidance about e-RS visit NHS e-Referral Service – NHS England Digital
Training and support
e-RS national training environment
There is a national training environment (see below) available to users of the service This mirrors the live e-RS system, allowing training without the risk of accessing or altering real data.
You are advised to read the synthetic test data page if you are thinking about using the test patient/services in the live e-RS environment.
Other sources of training and help
You may find local training available through your Primary Care Network (PCN), Integrated Care Board (ICB) or Commissioning Support Unit (CSU).
More information, training and support is also available:
- through the e-RS application help function
- by visiting the e-RS document library for quick reference guides, videos and learning materials
A national training forum has been established to provide open and regular communication channels between the e-RS national training team and a representative panel of e-RS trainers from the NHS and independent sector.
Patient guidance and support
Information for patients is available on the NHS.UK website: Book an appointment using the NHS e-Referral Service – NHS
NHS England has produced a video for patients.
Related GPG content
- Smartcards and access control (RBAC)
- NHS Care Identity Service 2 (CIS2)
- NHS login
- NHS App
- GP contract
Other helpful resources
- NHS England, Developing a referral management plan