Organisation Online Services Setup

The RCGP has released a comprehensive toolkit to help practices implement online services safely. All of the configuration for Online Services is via Setup >Users & Policies > Organisation Preferences then scroll down the left-hand side until you find Online Services. 


Step 1. Before you can do anything you must tick to enable online services and enter your surgery website address / URL.  



Step 2. Appointments 

When it comes to the settings for appointment booking online the configuration is quite limited. SystmOne organisation preferences for online booking are good if you run specific named clinics i.e. Asthma Clinic, Diabetes Clinic, INR Clinic etc. Unfortunately, this often isn't possible and the way that practice nurse screens, in particular, are frequently set up means that they perform a variety of slot types in any one session. 


So in the example below we have allowed booking into all rotas but only for specific slot types that can be booked online. 



It is important to consider what the patient can see in SystmOnline in terms of the 'Session Type' and 'Slot Type'. A full review of all appointment rotas is recommended and any new rota templates being produced should be given a meaningful 'Type' category and 'Slot' name.


As you can see in the example below, this will be presented to the patient as 'Session Type' called 'Session' and 'Slot Type' called slot. This is not very helpful to patients trying to book online and will no doubt end up with inappropriate bookings.  




Step 3. Patient Record Access. All patients who have signed up to SystmOnline should have access to their Summary Care Record. If a patient has requested access to the detailed coded record, as a practice, you can decide on the date options. You may not wish to allow patients access to the record audits. By giving them access they can see when another organisation has accessed their record so can be quite useful. And the last option is a fairly new one to allow patients to view their consent to share (in and out) settings.



Granting Access

On every patient that does not have a SystmOnline account or hasn't been asked in the last 12 months, you will see this patient status alert symbol 'Consider Patient Online Access'. Clicking on this will open the Online Access template.

  • Tick that you have had a discussion with the patient 

  • Click on the 'Online Access Leaflet + Form' to print off the registration form and patient leaflet

  • Use the 'Proxy Online Access' form if appropriate

  • Links to Mental Capacity and Gillick & Fraser Guidelines

  • Click the view for any potential risks 

  • Select if there is risk in giving access and if it is declined



If there is no risk identified and the patient is able to complete the registration form straightaway and has photographic proof of ID (always follow practice policies);

  • Click on 'Record Online Access'. 
  • Select 'Add or remove services'


Select all options as applicable, and click Ok and if print out is selected a document is then printed which contains details for the patient including username and password. Save the record. 




Online Registration

There is an option on the SystmOnline home page for patients to self-register for Online Services.  

This takes you to a form where patients can input very little information and submit it, there seems to be very little validation. 


The patient is then presented with this submission message.



Please Note: SystmOne does not generate a task for this registration request it relies on staff accessing a screen under Patient >Patient Maintenance > Online Services Access Requests / Invites. So this is a screen that needs to be checked on a frequent basis. 


Most practices have a tried and tested registration process which involves patients being given information about SystmOnline, completing forms and producing ID. So this online partial registration bypasses any processes setup and invariably will end up with the patient completing the practice SystmOnline registration form as well as producing ID. 


There is no way to deactivate the online registration option, a development request has been submitted to TPP to request that this option be made available for practices - reference number d0d30000