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Appointments Management - GP

Appointments Management - GP

ID

C5

Version

1.4.0

Type

Capability

Category

Appointments

Status

Effective

Effective Date

Oct 30, 2025

Contracting Vehicle(s)

Description

Supports the administration, scheduling, resourcing and viewing of Appointments and Appointment availability. Also supports submission of data to the Authority for monitoring, planning and research purposes.

Outcomes

For a Patient:

The ability to access medical services as and when they are needed.

For the GP Practice:

The effective management of time, personnel, and resources to ensure all Patients have timely access to appropriate medical services, and that Staff Members can undertake their responsibilities efficiently.

For the wider NHS and social care system:

The efficient management of Appointments, allocation of resources and movement of Patients across Primary Care to best support the needs of all Patients.

MUST Epics - Describes the minimum functionality required to deliver a Capability. Solutions MUST be successfully evaluated against each Epic and Acceptance Criteria via Capability Assessment in order to be associated with this Capability

E00219 - manage Appointments for Patients

As a Health or Care Professional

I want to manage Appointments for Patients

So that Patients have access to medical services

Acceptance criterion 1: book Appointments for Patients

Given the Health or Care Professional is permitted to manage Appointments

When the Health or Care Professional selects to book an Appointment for a Patient

Then the location of the Appointment is recorded

And the date of the Appointment is recorded

And the start time of the Appointment is recorded

And the end time of the Appointment is recorded

And the Health or Care Professional who the Appointment is with can be recorded

And the mode of Appointment is recorded

And the reason for the Appointment is recorded

And the method of booking the Appointment is recorded

And the Appointment is booked for that Patient

Acceptance criterion 2: view Appointments for Patients

Given the Health or Care Professional is permitted to manage Appointments

When the Health or Care Professional selects to view information for an Appointment for a Patient

Then the Appointment is displayed

Acceptance criterion 3: amend Appointments for Patients

Given the Health or Care Professional is permitted to manage Appointments

When the Health or Care Professional selects to amend an Appointment for a Patient

Then the Appointment is amended for that Patient

Acceptance criterion 4: cancel Appointments for Patients

Given the Health or Care Professional is permitted to manage Appointments

When the Health or Care Professional selects to cancel an Appointment for a Patient

Then the Appointment is cancelled for that Patient

E00219 - Supporting Information

  • Examples of the reason for an Appointment MAY include, but are not limited to:

    • Routine Appointment

    • Minor surgery

    • Travel advice

  • Methods of booking MAY include, but are not limited to:

    • Online

    • In person

    • By telephone

    • By automated telephone system

  • For details on acceptable mode of Appointment options, see WPAD-DI-016 in the General Practice Appointments Data Reporting Standard

  • Free text MAY be required to be recorded for Appointments (e.g. to enable Patient and/or Staff Member to give more detail about the reason for the Appointment)

  • Some of the data items required for Appointment booking MAY be inferred from the Slot or Session including, but not limited to:

    • Date

    • Start and end time

    • Location

    • Staff Member

  • Some Appointments MAY not be booked with a named Health or Care Professional but instead form part of a Session run by a type of Health Care Profession, for example a Nurse led clinic, with the Patient seeing whoever is running that clinic.

E00220 - manage Sessions

As a Health or Care Professional

I want to manage Sessions for the Healthcare Organisation

So that Appointment availability for each Session can be defined for the Healthcare Organisation

Acceptance criterion 1: create a Session

Given the Health or Care Professional is permitted to manage Sessions for the Healthcare Organisation

When the Health or Care Professional selects to create a Session 

Then the Session is created

Acceptance criterion 2: view a Session

Given the Health or Care Professional is permitted to manage Sessions for the Healthcare Organisation

When the Health or Care Professional selects to view a Session

Then the Session is displayed

Acceptance criterion 3: amend a Session

Given the Health or Care Professional is permitted to manage Sessions for the Healthcare Organisation

When the Health or Care Professional selects to amend a Session 

Then the Session is amended

Acceptance criterion 4: cancel a Session

Given the Health or Care Professional is permitted to manage Sessions for the Healthcare Organisation

When the Health or Care Professional selects to cancel a Session 

Then the Session is cancelled

E00220 - Supporting Information

  • Sessions is a collective term for groups of Appointment Slots that fall within a set period of time. Other terms can be used if the Solution still facilitates the management of groups of Appointment Slots that fall within the same set period of time.

  • Data items that MAY be shared between Sessions and Appointment Slots include, but are not limited to:

    • Date

    • Start and end time

    • Location

    • Staff Member

  • Examples of amending a Session MAY include, but are not limited to:

    • Extending a Session to accommodate additional Appointment Slots

E00221 - manage Appointment Slots within a Session

As a Health or Care Professional

I want to manage Appointment Slots within a Session for the Healthcare Organisation

So that periods of Appointment availability can be defined

Acceptance criterion 1: create an Appointment Slot

Given the Health or Care Professional is permitted to manage Appointment Slots within a Session

When the Health or Care Professional selects to create an Appointment Slot

Then the Appointment Slot is created

Acceptance criterion 2: view an available Appointment Slot

Given the Health or Care Professional is permitted to manage Appointment Slots within a Session

When the Health or Care Professional selects to view an Appointment Slot

Then the Appointment Slot is displayed

Acceptance criterion 3: amend an Appointment Slot

Given the Health or Care Professional is permitted to manage Appointment Slots within a Session

When the Health or Care Professional selects to amend an Appointment Slot

Then the Appointment Slot is amended

Acceptance criterion 4: delete an Appointment Slot

Given the Health or Care Professional is permitted to manage Appointment Slots within a Session

When the Health or Care Professional selects to delete an Appointment Slot 

Then the Appointment Slot is deleted

E00221 - Additional Implementation Details

Solutions MUST comply with the following when implementing this Epic:

E00221 - Supporting Information

  • Data items that MAY be shared between Sessions and Appointment Slots include, but are not limited to:

    • Date

    • Start and end time

    • Location

    • Staff Member

  • Examples of amending a Session MAY include, but are not limited to:

    • Reducing the duration of an Appointment Slot to accommodate additional Appointment Slots in a Session

E00222 - record National Slot Type Category for Appointment Slots

As a Health or Care Professional

I want to record the National Slot Type Category for Appointment Slots

So that Appointments and Appointment Slots are categorised using nationally defined categories

Acceptance criterion 1: record National Slot Type Category for Appointment Slots

Given the Health or Care Professional is permitted to manage Appointment Slots within a Session

When the Health or Care Professional selects to record the National Slot Type Category for an Appointment Slot

Then the National Slot Type Category is recorded

E00222 - Additional Implementation Details

Solutions MUST comply with the following when implementing this Epic:

  • Suppliers to import the National Slot Type Category file - An example of the the Authority National Slot Type Category file to be imported can be found here: xml file and csv file

  • Supplier will deploy additional National Slot Type Categories published by the Authority within 30 working days

If the recording of National Slot Type Categories for Appointment Slots is achieved through the mapping of local Slot Types (e.g. Supplier defined or user configurable) to a National Slot Type Category, Suppliers MUST also comply with the following when implementing this Epic:

  • Provide the ability for users to define mappings between local Slot Types and a National Slot Type Category

  • Display the following information to users to assist with mapping activities:

    • Service Setting

    • Context Type

    • Category

    • Description

  • Mapping is to be mandatory for all local Slots Types

  • Suppliers to provide the ability for users to identify existing mappings for local Slot Types and those that are currently unmapped (e.g. via a mappings screen or reporting features)

  • Any National Slot Type Categories with an End Date that has passed are not to visible to the user

  • Where local Slot Types are mapped to a National Slot Type Category with an End Date that has passed, Suppliers to record mapping as ‘Not Set'

  • Supplier to be able to set local Slot Type to National Slot Type Category mappings in bulk for Practices - these bulk mappings will be provided by the Authority via a CSV file, an example can be found here

E00222 - Supporting Information

E00223 - record Appointment status

As a Health or Care Professional

I want to record the status of Appointments for Patients

So that Appointment availability is accurate and the outcome for booked Appointments can be recorded

Acceptance criterion 1: update the Appointment status to Booked

Given the Health or Care Professional is permitted to manage Appointments

When the Health or Care Professional books an Appointment for a Patient

Then the status of that Appointment is recorded as Booked

Acceptance criterion 2: update the Appointment status to Complete

Given the Health or Care Professional is permitted to manage Appointments

When the Health or Care Professional selects to record the status of Complete

Then the status of that Appointment is recorded as Complete

Acceptance criterion 3: update the Appointment status to Did Not Attend (DNA)

Given the Health or Care Professional is permitted to manage Appointments

When the Health or Care Professional selects to record the status of Did Not Attend (DNA)

Then the status of that Appointment is recorded as Did Not Attend (DNA) for the Patient

E00223 - Supporting Information

  • Other Appointment statuses MAY include, but are not limited to:

    • Rescheduled

    • Cancelled

    • Awaiting re-booking / re-scheduling

  • It MAY be appropriate to record coded terms for certain Appointment Statuses (e.g. DNA) - see Data Standards for further information on appropriate coding

E00224 - display a combined view of a Patient’s future and historical Appointments

As a Health or Care Professional

I want to view future and historical Appointments for a Patient in a combined view

So that I can view the Patient’s future and historical Appointments

Acceptance criterion 1: combined view of future and historical Appointments

Given the Health or Care Professional is permitted to manage Appointments

When the Health or Care Professional selects to view future and historical Appointments for a Patient in a combined view

Then future Appointments for the Patient are displayed

And historical Appointments for the Patient are displayed

E00225 - display Patient Alerts

As a Health or Care Professional

I want Patient Alerts to be displayed when I manage Appointments for a Patient

So key characteristics relating to the Patient are indicated to the Health or Care Professional

Acceptance criterion 1: display Patient Alert

Given the Health or Care Professional is permitted to manage Appointments

And a Patient Alert is recorded for that Patient

When the Health or Care Professional selects to manage Appointments for a Patient

Then the Patient Alert is displayed

E00225 - Supporting Information

E00226 - GP Connect - Appointments Management

As a Health or Care Professional

I want to enable booking of Appointments for Patients at the GP Practice by other Healthcare Organisations via GP Connect

So that Appointments can be booked for Patients by other Healthcare Organisations

Acceptance criterion 1: share Appointment availability data with other Healthcare Organisations

Given the Health or Care Professional is permitted to manage Appointment availability data

When the Health or Care Professional selects to share Appointment availability data with other Healthcare Organisations using GP Connect

Then Appointment availability data is shared with other Healthcare Organisations

Acceptance criterion 2: Appointment booking at my GP Practice by other Healthcare Organisations

Given there is Appointment availability data to be shared with other Healthcare Organisations

When the Health or Care Professional at another Healthcare Organisation selects to book an Appointment at the GP Practice on behalf of a Patient using GP Connect

Then the Appointment is booked at the GP Practice

E00226 - Additional Implementation Details

Solutions MUST comply with the following when implementing this Epic:

E00227 - General Practice Appointments Data Reporting

As a Health or Care Professional

I want to submit General Practice Appointments Data to the Authority

So that information can be submitted to the Authority to support capacity planning and management

Acceptance criterion 1: create General Practice Appointments data for submission

Given there is Appointments Data to be submitted by the Solution

When the creation of the General Practice Appointments data file is triggered

Then the General Practice Appointments data file is created

E00227 - Additional Implementation Details

Solutions MUST comply with the following when implementing this Epic:

MAY Epics - Describes additional functionality associated with the Capability. Suppliers should consider all MAY Epics as part of their User Research. Suppliers can choose to map their Solutions to these Epics and they will be evaluated via Capability Assessment. Contracting Authorities or purchasing organisations may require these Epics as product qualification or requirements criteria

E00229 - search available Appointment Slots

As a Health or Care Professional

I want to search for available Appointment Slots

So that I can identify which Appointment Slots are available to book

Acceptance criterion 1: search for available Appointment Slots

Given the Health or Care Professional is permitted to search for available Appointment slots within a Session

When the Health or Care Professional selects to search available Appointment slots

Then the search results are displayed

E00229 - Supporting Information

  • Search criteria MAY include, but are not limited to:

    • Date/date range

    • Day (e.g. Wednesday or Friday)

    • Time (range or period, e.g. AM, PM or evening)

    • Duration

    • Multiple consecutive/adjacent slots

    • Session type

    • Location

    • National Slot Type Category

    • Slot type

    • Staff Member

E00230 - view a summary of a Patient’s Appointment history

As a Health or Care Professional

I want to view a summary of a Patient’s Appointment history

So that I can view a summary of the Patient’s Appointment history

Acceptance criterion 1: view a summary of a Patient’s Appointment history

Given the Health or Care Professional is permitted to manage Appointments

When the Health or Care Professional selects to view a summary of a Patient’s Appointment history

Then the Patient’s Appointment history is displayed

E00230 - Supporting Information

  • Examples of data that MAY be displayed include, but are not limited to:

    • Number of Appointments with a Status of Did Not Attend

    • Number of late arrivals

    • Number of overrun Appointments

    • Number of future booked Appointments

E00231 - record Non-human resources for an Appointment

As a Health or Care Professional

I want to record Non-human resources required to support Appointments

So that Non-human resources are recorded for Appointments

Acceptance criterion 1: record Non-human resources required for an Appointment

Given the Health or Care Professional is permitted to manage Appointments

When the Health or Care Professional selects to record Non-human resources required for an Appointment

Then the Non-human resources required for an Appointment are recorded

E00231 - Supporting Information

  • Examples of Non-human resource that can be booked for Appointments MAY include but are not limited to:

    • Rooms

    • Equipment

E00232 - book Appointments not linked to a Patient

As a Health or Care Professional

I want to record Appointments that are not linked to a Patient

So that I can book Appointments that are not linked to a Patient

Acceptance criterion 1: book Appointment not linked to a Patient

Given the Health or Care Professional is permitted to manage Appointments

When the Health or Care Professional selects to book an Appointment that is not linked to a Patient

Then an Appointment that is not linked to a Patient is booked

E00232 - Supporting Information

  • Examples of when an Appointment is not linked to a Patient MAY include, but are not limited to:

    • Medicals for insurance or occupational health purposes

    • A second visit to verify death of a non-registered Patient

    • An administrative Appointment (used to ‘book out' a Health or Care Professional’s time)

E00233 - record other attendees for an Appointment

As a Health or Care Professional

I want to record other attendees who will attend the Appointment

So that I have a record of all individuals who will attend the Appointment

Acceptance criterion 1: record other attendees for an Appointment

Given the Health or Care Professional is permitted to manage Appointments

When the Health or Care Professional selects to record any other attendees for an Appointment

Then the other attendees for an Appointment are recorded

E00233 - Supporting Information

  • Examples of other attendees at Appointments MAY include, but are not limited to:

E00234 - re-schedule Appointments

As a Health or Care Professional

I want to reschedule Appointments

So that Appointments are rescheduled for Patients when the original Appointment is no longer suitable

Acceptance criterion 1: reschedule Appointments

Given the Health or Care Professional is permitted to manage Appointments

When the Health or Care Professional selects to reschedule an Appointment

Then the the previous Appointment is cancelled

And the Appointment is rescheduled

E00235 - record non-time bound Appointments

As a Health or Care Professional

I want to record non-time bound Appointments for Patients

So that Patients have access to medical services when they don’t have a scheduled Appointment

Acceptance criterion 1: record non-time bound Appointments for Patients

Given the Health or Care Professional is permitted to manage Appointments

When the Health or Care Professional selects to record a non-time bound Appointment for a Patient

Then the non-time bound Appointment is recorded for the Patient

E00235 - Supporting Information

  • Examples of non-time bound Appointments MAY include, but are not limited to:

    • Call-backs

    • Home visits

    • Unscheduled Appointments (unplanned Appointments where Patients have to sit and wait to be seen or be assigned an order to be seen by)

  • Data Items that MAY be recorded include, but are not limited to:

    • Time of request

    • Date of request

    • Start time (retrospectively)

    • End time (retrospectively)

E00236 - automatically record status of Did Not Attend (DNA) for Appointments

As a Health or Care Professional

I want a status of Did Not Attend to be automatically recorded for Appointments when Patients have not arrived within a set period

So that I don’t need to update the status for these Appointments manually

Acceptance criterion 1: update the Appointment status to Did Not Attend

Given there is an Appointment with the status of Booked

When a set period of time has expired since the specified time of the Appointment

Then the status of that Appointment is automatically updated to Did Not Attend

E00236 - Supporting Information

  • Solutions MAY enable configuration of the set period to meet the needs of the Practice

E00237 - configure delayed release Appointment Slots

As a Health or Care Professional

I want to configure Appointment Slots so they only become bookable within a defined time period before the Slot date and time

So that I can control when certain Appointment Slots are available to be booked

Acceptance criterion 1: configure delayed release Appointment Slots

Given the Health or Care Professional is permitted to manage Appointment Slots for the Healthcare Organisation

When the Health or Care Professional selects to configure the time period for when an Appointment Slot becomes available

Then the Appointment Slot is configured

And the Appointment Slot only becomes available for booking as per the configuration

E00237 - Supporting Information

  • These types of Slots are also referred to as Embargoed Slots

  • This supports Health Care Organisations to ensure Appointment Slots are made available at the appropriate time, for example, but not limited to:

    • Ensuring some Appointment Slots are only available on the day of the Session

    • Ensuring Appointment Slots are made available in defined batches

    • Ensuring Appointment Slots reserved for other Health Care Organisations (such as NHS 111) are released for general booking if they are still available at a defined period before the Appointment Slot date and time

E00238 - filter the combined view of a Patient’s Appointments

As a Health or Care Professional

I want to filter the combined view of a Patient’s Appointments

So that I can view only the elements of the combined view of a Patient’s Appointments that are required

Acceptance criterion 1: filter the combined view of a Patient’s Appointments

Given the Health or Care Professional is permitted to view a combined view of a Patient’s Appointments

When the Health or Care Professional selects to view the combined view of a Patient’s Appointments

And the Health or Care Professional selects to apply filters

Then the combined view of a Patient’s Appointments is displayed with the filter applied

E00238 - Supporting Information

  • Filters that can be applied to a Patient’s forthcoming and historical appointment view MAY include, but are not limited to:

    • Appointment status

    • Health or Care Professional’s

      • Name

      • Languages spoken

      • Gender

      • Date (range)

E00239 - display a combined view of available Appointment Slots and booked Appointments for the Healthcare Organisation

As a Health or Care Professional

I want to see available Appointments Slots and booked Appointments for the Healthcare Organisation in a combined view

So that all Appointment Slots and booked Appointments can easily be viewed to help manage Appointments

Acceptance criterion 1: combined view of available Appointment Slots and booked Appointments