We at Haughton Thornley Medical Centres have been encouraging patients to register for online services since 2004. Patients can

• Book appointments online for health care assistants, phlebotomists, nurses and now some GP appointments too
• Order repeat prescriptions
• Send secure messages
• View electronic health records
• Share their record with others too
• Provide proxy access for family members or carers with separate access logins

Traditionally patients could do this by going online via a computer or laptop. However in recent years apps have now been developed for Apple iOS and Google Android devices which means you can literally access your records from anywhere you like where you can access the internet from using a device that literally fits in your pocket!

3 main service suppliers – Evergreen Life, Patient Access and the NHS App

All the suppliers offer similar services allowing you to log in to your electronic health record to access the online services using any computer or laptop as well as offering apps for your smartphone or tablet too. The functionality is similar although it can be easier to do some things on a computer (eg reading letters) whilst the ease of access to view your records when you are out and about means a smartphone is more useful in everyday use. 

• Imagine being able to see what your doctor or nurse has done for you so that you no longer need to try to remember everything but can read the information about you.
• Imagine being able to just go online right now, wherever you are and order your repeat prescriptions or send a secure message to the surgery knowing staff will be able to pick it up and act on it when the surgery opens!
• Imagine not having to worry about when the results will be back after you have had a blood test or an X-ray because you can now go online and check for yourself.
• Or imagine going on holiday and if you fall ill, being able to log into your records and show what your GP can see even though you may be on the opposite side of the planet.

Our staff have been trained to provide support including helping you to register online for the services. If you still have any problems then please send an email to htmcpatient@nhs.net and we will get back in touch with you.

Age is no barrier with patients from newly born through to our oldest patient aged over 101 years old who have access to their electronic health records. Similarly intellectual ability is not a barrier either – currently 73% of all our patients with Learning disability have access. Also ethnicity is not a barrier either with 87% of all our Bangladeshi patients having signed up (1st January 2023). This is true for people with mental health problems and a whole host of other problems too. The only barrier seems to be being offered the service and also people’s own willingness to learn and give it a go.

You can get further help by asking your family, friends, going to the library or other self-help organisation. The Haughton Green Centre and Hyde Community Action both have computers and can help you to get online and register too. We also have a very active Patient Participation Group and members would be only too happy to help too. 

We have now installed free wifi for all our patients in the surgery. You can access the internet for free whilst in the waiting room. Simply search for NHSwifi, register for a free account and then you can go online. 

In the future we hope to bring a variety of other online services to complement what we are already offering. This is a very exciting time to use online services at a time when the NHS is under unprecedented pressure. Your help will also greatly help us and the NHS to continue to deliver high quality, safe services for all. 

So go ahead and sign up for online services today and join over 10,000 of patients in the practice who are enjoying using online services too