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Patient Triage in Secondary Care: FAQ's

This article is for secondary care services that use the Patient Triage form

Written by Becca
Updated yesterday

If you are a primary care organisation that uses Patient Triage, please see this article instead.

What is Patient Triage?

A simple online request form that replaces busy phone lines and email inboxes. Patients submit structured information, and your team receives requests in an organised queue so you can triage, prioritise, and respond safely and efficiently.


How do patients use it?

They click a link or scan a QR code, answer a short set of questions, and submit. No login, NHS App, or account needed.


What kinds of requests does it support?

Most non-urgent inbound queries: symptoms, flare-ups, medication issues, admin queries, test questions, appointment problems. Your form is customised to your specialty and local workflow.


What support does Accurx provide?

Accurx gives full end-to-end support, including:

  • A custom-built Patient Triage form tailored to your service

  • Help shaping your workflow and a simple SOP

  • Full staff training (virtual or on-site)

  • Patient comms materials (QR codes, posters, website copy)

  • Named Operations Lead + Clinical Lead

  • Hands-on guidance through governance

  • Regular check-ins and troubleshooting after go-live

No IT setup or integrations required — we handle the heavy lifting.


What governance is needed?

Most Trusts carry out a light governance process before enabling Patient Triage.

Typically, this includes:

  • A Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) completed by the Trust

  • Acceptance of the Accurx Data Processing Agreement (DPA)

  • Local sign-off from IG, digital, or clinical risk teams, depending on the Trusts' process

Accurx supports your teams by providing:

  • A governance pack on request

  • All required platform information

  • Our standard Data Processing Agreement

  • Named contacts for IG and digital queries

  • Support to explain the workflow and clinical risk mitigations

We do not complete the DPIA ourselves, but we provide everything your IG team needs to complete theirs quickly.


Is Patient Triage safe and secure?

Yes — Accurx meets NHS standards:

ISO27001, Cyber Essentials Plus, NHS DSP Toolkit assured, GDPR compliant, G-Cloud 14 listed.

Data is encrypted, never sold, and only accessible to verified NHS staff.


Does it replace phone lines?

No - phone lines remain available for urgent issues or for anyone who cannot use the online form. While most patients (including many older patients) find the form easy to use, we always encourage keeping accessible alternatives in place, so people can continue to contact the service in the way that works for them.


What happens when a request comes in?

Your team sees the patient's details, structured answers, and attachments in a clear inbox. You can message back securely, request more information, or escalate internally. All actions are automatically recorded in an audit trail.


Who else uses Patient Triage?

Used by hundreds of NHS hospital teams and 98% of GP practices. Active in IBD, Rheumatology, Respiratory, Bariatrics, Urology, Diabetes, Cancer CNS teams, Surgical teams, Community services and more.


What benefits do services typically see?

Services usually see clearer triage, a large reduction in phone calls and emails, and faster clinical decision-making.

Teams report less admin workload, better documentation, and fewer unnecessary follow-ups.

Most importantly, patients experience quicker responses and consistently give positive feedback about convenience, clarity, and not having to wait on hold.


How quickly can we go live?

Most services go live within 2–4 weeks. Build → training → governance → SOP → patient link → launch, with Accurx supporting each step.


If you have any further questions or feedback, please get in touch with our support team using the message bubble in the bottom right-hand corner of this page 👉

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