Patient Online Management Information (POMI)

Frequency: Monthly

Background to the collection

The Patient Online services indicator set was commissioned by NHS England to monitor progress against a government ambition for all patients who wish it to have online access to services in general practices by the end of March 2015.

This information was made available via the PHF10 return that collected information on a quarterly basis from system suppliers on the availability at GP practice level of online appointment booking, ordering of repeat prescriptions and access to medical records, test results, GP letters and summary information (allergies, adverse reactions and medications). This data was collected via the NHS Digital Data Depot secure file transfer system.

During the 2014/15 financial year (Q2 to Q4) the introduction of data requirements for the  NHS Digital's GP System of Choice (GPSoC) team was combined with the PHF10 return and piloted to run monthly reporting in an attempt to make this 'online availability data' more frequently accessible and relevant.

Following the successful pilot of the monthly reporting, GPSoC and NHS England agreed to develop the metrics for this indicator set. As a result, from April 2015 the Patient Online Management Information (POMI) indicator set was introduced, replacing the old PHF10 return. The new POMI return continues to collect information on the availability to patients of electronic access to their test results, GP letters, prescriptions and online appointment booking facilities at the GP Practice level. This return is collected using NHS Digital's Secure Electronic File Transfer (SEFT) tool.

The subset and full medical records viewing services are being redefined to align with the requirements in the 2015/16 GMS/PMS regulations and the two previous indicators have been decommissioned from April 2015. This review will also consider other elements of the indicator set and how these align with the redefined indicators.

The new indicator to provide information on the availability to patients to access their detailed coded record (DCR) was introduced from February 2016, and the previous indicators for test results and letters decommissioned from April 2016. Work is ongoing between NHS Digital and NHS England to review  existing and, where required, develop further indicators for this data set.

An overview of the available indicators for both the PHF10 (legacy) and the POMI returns, which can be found on the NHS Indicator Portal, can be viewed below;

Patient Online Management Information (POMI)- Monthly Reporting (from February 2016)

GP System Functionality for Patients to Book or Cancel Appointments Electronically

GP System Functionality for Patients to Order Repeat Prescriptions Electronically

GP System Functionality for Patients to View Detailed Coded Records (DCR) Electronically

Patient Online Management Information (POMI) - Monthly Reporting (from April 2015)

GP System Functionality for Patients to Book or Cancel Appointments Electronically

GP System Functionality for Patients to Order Repeat Prescriptions Electronically

GP System Functionality for Patients to View GP Letters Electronically

GP System Functionality for Patients to View Test Results Electronically

PHF10 - Quarterly Reporting (to March 2015)

GP System Functionality for Patients to Book or Cancel Appointments Electronically

GP System Functionality for Patients to View or Order Repeat Prescriptions Electronically

GP System Functionality for Patients to View GP Letters Electronically

GP System Functionality for Patients to View Test Results Electronically

GP System Functionality for Patients to View a Subset of Medical Records Electronically

GP System Functionality for Patients to View Full Medical Records Electronically

Completing the return

The POMI return is collected using NHS Digital's Secure Electronic File Transfer (SEFT) tool.

In order to register for a SEFT (Secure Electronic File Transfer) user account to submit your data please contact seft.team@nhs.net quoting POMI Submitter in the Subject. We will then send you an email with details of how to register.

Launch and submission dates

Other useful links

NHS England

GP System of Choice (GPSoC)

Department of Health - The Governments initial plan (white paper) for the period November 2012 - March 2015 (the government term)