⚠️ Please note: This change is live from 2 June 2026. From this date, how you search for patients and access historic conversations in Accurx will work differently. Please read this article carefully.
What's changing and why
From 2 June 2026, Accurx is integrating with UHL and UHN's Nervecentre, your hospital system. This means that when you message a patient through a hospital-system workflow, Accurx will create a new patient profile based on their hospital number, rather than their NHS number.
Their previous Accurx profile and all conversations before 2 June 2026 will still exist, but will not appear in Patient Search results. To find historic conversations, you will need to scroll through the inbox manually.
What's a hospital-system workflow vs a PDS-based workflow?
Hospital-system workflows look up patients by hospital number (or linked NHS number), with patient details pulled from the hospital system e.g. Nervecentre.
PDS-based workflows, on the other hand, look up patients by NHS number and date of birth, pulling details from the national PDS database.
How Patient Search works after 2 June 2026
Before 2 June 2026, Patient Search in Accurx Web and the Accurx app for UHL and UHN users referenced the national PDS database. You could search by NHS number and date of birth, or use Advanced Search (first name, last name, gender, postcode).
From 2 June 2026, Patient Search will:
Reference Nervecentre instead of the PDS
Require you to search by NHS number or hospital number
No longer support Advanced Search (first name, last name, gender, postcode)
Return a new patient profile based on the hospital number, showing only hospital-system workflow conversations from 2 June 2026 onwards
⚠️ Please note:
Patient Search will not show conversations from before 2 June 2026, or conversations from PDS-based workflows (such as Patient Triage, Batch Messaging, or TIARA/CRIS clinic lists). To find these, you will need to scroll through your inbox.
Which workflows are affected?
The workflows outlined below show how each workflow is affected from 2 June 2026.
Hospital-system workflows
Hospital-system workflows
These workflows will use Nervecentre to look up patients, and messages sent after 2 June will create a new profile in Accurx based on the hospital number.
Workflow | What's different after 2 June |
Appointment Reminders (via Nervecentre) | Reminders are sent to the mobile number in Nervecentre. A new patient profile is created in Accurx. The old PDS-based profile won't appear in Patient Search. |
Clinic list messages (single or batch, via Nervecentre) | Patient phone number is now pulled from Nervecentre instead of PDS. |
Single (ad hoc) messages — 1-way text, 2-way text, questionnaires, video consultation links | You can search by NHS number or hospital number. Phone number is pulled from Nervecentre. Patients messaged after 2 June will form a separate profile (based on hospital number). The original profile is not searchable via Patient Search. |
PDS-based workflows
PDS-based workflows
Patient Search will not return a patient profile with conversations from these workflows outlined below. To find these conversations, scroll through your inbox manually.
Workflow | What's different after 2 June |
Appointment Reminders (via TIARA/CRIS) | Profiles with reminders sent from TIARA/CRIS will not appear in Patient Search. |
Clinic list messages (single or batch, via TIARA/CRIS) | Profiles with conversations from TIARA/CRIS clinic lists will not appear in Patient Search. |
Patient lists (manually created) | Profiles with conversations from patient lists will not appear in Patient Search. |
Appointment cancel/rebook requests | Profiles with submitted cancel/rebook requests prior to 2 June will not appear in Patient Search. |
Patient Triage forms | Profiles with submitted forms or triage conversations prior to 2 June will not appear in Patient Search. |
Batch Messaging | Profiles with batch responses or batch conversations prior to 2 June will not appear in Patient Search. |
How to find historic conversations
If you need to view a patient's full conversation history, you will not be able to rely on Patient Search alone. Instead:
Go to your inbox in Accurx
Scroll through your conversations manually to locate the historic record for that patient
Alternatively:
Go to the All conversations folder in your Accurx Inbox
Scroll through conversations manually to locate the historic record for that patient
All conversations show all communication with a patient across your whole workspace.
⚠️ Please note:
This means that for a full audit trail of a patient's conversations, you will need to check both the patient's new profile (searchable from 2 June) and scroll through the inbox for any older conversations prior to that date.
Example
Joe Bloggs (Example patient) has had 10 conversations in Accurx before 2 June 2026. On 3 June, if you search for his NHS number or hospital number, his historic conversations listed below will not appear in Patient Search.
However, you can find them by going to All conversations in your Inbox and scrolling manually through the Open and Done tabs. Note that All conversations shows all communication with a patient across your whole workspace, giving you the most comprehensive view of their history.
Frequently asked questions
Can I still access conversations from before 2 June 2026?
Can I still access conversations from before 2 June 2026?
Yes, all previous conversations still exist. They just won't appear in Patient Search, but you can find them by manually scrolling through your inbox.
Will the patient's phone number change?
Will the patient's phone number change?
From 2 June 2026, for hospital-system workflows, the patient's phone number will be pulled from Nervecentre rather than the PDS. If Nervecentre holds a different number to PDS, the message will be sent to the Nervecentre number.
Can I still use Advanced Search?
Can I still use Advanced Search?
No, Advanced Search (by first name, last name, gender, or postcode) will no longer be available. You will need to search by NHS number or hospital number.
What if I message a patient I messaged before 2 June?
What if I message a patient I messaged before 2 June?
A new profile will be created for that patient based on their hospital number. Their previous profile (and conversations) will remain in Accurx but will only be accessible by scrolling through the inbox.
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 👉