🔍 What is Hub Working?
A Hub Network is a set of workspaces that can message each other.
Hub Working enables seamless communication across organisational boundaries. It allows teams to coordinate care quickly and safely without leaving their own Accurx inbox.
Accurx has two capabilities for Hub Working:
Cross-Organisational Triage: Outlined below
Cross-Organisational Booking: Find out more about this here
Benefits of Hub Working:
✅ Improved access - Demand flows to where there is capacity, so patients receive the right care sooner.
✅ Better use of your team - ARRS and MDT staff can support the whole network.
✅ Reduced pressure - Manage demand as a network with cover for busy periods, sickness, and leave.
✅ Right care, first time - Requests routed to the most appropriate role or service.
🩺 What is Cross-Organisational Triage?
Cross-Organisation Triage is a feature that allows workspaces to forward a Patient Triage request to another practice or hub team while preserving the full clinical and administrative context. This means the request follows the patient, rather than being tied to a single organisation.
Example use cases:
Example use cases:
Specialist services: Forwarding requests for ECGs, phlebotomy, dermoscopy, or spirometry.
Enhanced access: Moving requests into weekend or evening slots.
Specialist reviews: Routing requests to physiotherapists, pharmacists, or paramedic home visiting services.
📋 Setting up Cross-Organisational Triage
Before you get started with Cross-Organisation Triage, make sure you have the following pieces in place for a smooth setup:
Participating Organisations: A finalised list of the practices and hubs to be configured within your network.
Organisation Agreements: Confirmed agreed-upon ways of working between all participating practices and hubs, along with any local data-sharing agreements.
Workflow Agreements: Clear alignment across all practices and hubs regarding how work will be shared and with whom.
Hub Network Setup: Configure a hub network by contacting Accurx via the sign-up form.
Required Permissions: Any clinical or administrative staff member with access to the Accurx inbox of the relevant workspaces. This article runs through how to connect to appropriate workspaces.
📤 How to forward a Patient Triage request
When you receive a Patient Triage request that needs to be handled by another team in your network, follow these steps:
1. Open the Patient Triage request in your Accurx inbox.
2. Click the 'Forward' button at the bottom of the request
3. Select the workspace you wish to forward the request to from the dropdown list. (Note: Only workspaces within your pre-configured hub network will appear here)
4. Add an optional message for the receiving team to provide extra context.
5. Select who to assign the response to if the receiving workspace responds to the forwarded triage request. This is default set to the user forwarding the request.
6. Ticking the 'Save to record' checkbox (this is ticked by default) will save the request to the medical records, along with a 'The message was forwarded to...' message at the top of the saved entry.
The optional message will also be saved if one is inputted.
💡 Pro-tip: To avoid duplicate entries in the medical record, we recommend saving the forwarded version of the message rather than saving both the original request and the forwarded one.
7. Click 'Forward' to forward the request. You'll then see an audit trail in the conversation thread with the dates and times of the actions.
7. A copy of the triage conversation will also be created in the 'Sent & scheduled' inbox as a 'Professional' conversation.
📫 Receiving a forwarded request
If you are the receiving practice or hub, here is how you will find and manage a forwarded request:
1. Locate the request in your inbox under the 'Care connections' folder. (Forwarded requests appear as a 'Professional' conversation).
You will also see which workspace the request was forwarded from at the top of the request.
2. From here, you can:
Reply to the sending workspace via the 'Reply' button: Use the text box to acknowledge receipt or ask clarifying questions.
The original workspace will then receive the message in the 'Professional' conversation thread and will have the option to save it to the records.
Message the patient via the 'Message patient' button: Use the standard compose flow to contact the patient directly (e.g., to send a Self-Book link or confirm an appointment).
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
Which workspaces can I forward a request to?
Which workspaces can I forward a request to?
You can forward a request to any workspace in your hub network. Workspaces are added to your hub network during setup.
Does the whole conversation get forwarded, or just the request?
Does the whole conversation get forwarded, or just the request?
Only the Patient Triage request and the optional message (if added) are forwarded. Any other messages that you may have exchanged with the patient stay in your workspace. The receiving workspace sees the original request and its context, but not your separate patient conversation.
Do I get notified if the workspace I forwarded the Patient Triage request marks it as done?
Do I get notified if the workspace I forwarded the Patient Triage request marks it as done?
No, once the request has been marked as done, the recipient workspace will need to manually reach out by replying to the forwarded request.
What happens when I delete an attachment?
What happens when I delete an attachment?
If you delete the attachment after the message has been forwarded, the recipient workspace will still have access to it.
If you delete the attachment before forwarding the Patient Triage request, the Patient Triage form will indicate that an attachment was deleted by the sending workspace. This is to limit confusion as the Patient Triage request will indicate an attachment, but one won’t be present.
Do I need to match the patient before forwarding?
Do I need to match the patient before forwarding?
Yes, you'll need to match the patient to their record before you can message them or forward the request.
Can I save a forwarded request to the patient's record?
Can I save a forwarded request to the patient's record?
If your workspace is integrated with your clinical system (for example, EMIS or SystmOne), you'll have the option to save the request to the patient record when you forward it.
Once it's been saved, the option to save it again is removed to avoid duplication. If the request is forwarded again, you'll still have the option to save it on forward.
How much does Hub Working cost?
How much does Hub Working cost?
There's no additional charge for Hub Working. Users do need access to Booking and/or Patient Triage modules, depending on the aspect of the Hub Working they wish to use.
Do we need any agreements in place before going live?
Do we need any agreements in place before going live?
Practices need to be on the most recent Data Processing Agreement (the version released in August 2025). We assume that any workspaces in a Hub network have all required agreements in place.
How is patient data handled when a request is forwarded?
How is patient data handled when a request is forwarded?
When a request is forwarded, a copy of the Patient Triage request is shared with the receiving workspace, following the same model as secure email. Patient data erasure requests are handled globally, so a patient only needs to make a single request rather than contacting each workspace separately.
Do I need to tell the patient their request has been forwarded?
Do I need to tell the patient their request has been forwarded?
This will depend on your network's way of working. The patient isn't automatically notified when their request is forwarded, so you can choose whether to message them, for example, to let them know another team will be in touch. Some practices prefer to do this to manage expectations, others don't.
Can a request be forwarded more than once, or passed on again?
Can a request be forwarded more than once, or passed on again?
Yes, a request can be forwarded multiple times, and each forward creates its own separate conversation.
If a request is sent to the wrong workspace, the recipient can reply to let you know, close that conversation, and the request can then be forwarded on to the right place.
Does the receiving workspace see who forwarded the request?
Does the receiving workspace see who forwarded the request?
They'll see the name of the workspace that forwarded it, but not the individual person who actioned it. Identity is kept private between workspaces.
How many workspaces can be part of a hub network?
How many workspaces can be part of a hub network?
There's no strict limit, but we'd typically expect around 10 to 15 workspaces in a network. Very large networks can make the list harder to navigate when you're choosing where to forward a request.
How does a forwarded request show up in the patient's clinical record?
How does a forwarded request show up in the patient's clinical record?
When you save a forwarded request to the record, it's saved as a standard Accurx consultation in your clinical system.
To avoid duplicate entries, save it at the point of forwarding rather than saving the original request first and then forwarding it.
How does it work if not all practices are using Patient Triage?
How does it work if not all practices are using Patient Triage?
The sending practice will need to have access to Patient Triage, but the receiving practice/hub will not necessarily need access to the module to receive a forwarded request.
🔐 IG and Governance
Practices should agree on their own ways of working and ensure local data-sharing agreements are in place prior to set-up.
Hub functionality is designed to be covered by your existing Data Processing Agreement (DPA). Built on the same secure system you already use, this ensures patient data remains protected while moving between trusted organisations.
For the Hazard Log and updated clinical safety report, you can access these under the DCB0129 section of our Accurx Trust Centre linked here.
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 👉