The Medical record tab on a client's page offers two different views of their GP record, and it is worth knowing which one you are looking at:
The mirrored record already held in Joy. It opens instantly, it is read-only, and it is as up to date as the last time the record was brought across from the practice's EMIS system.
The live GP record, opened with the View medical record button. This is fetched from the practice through GP Connect at the moment you ask for it, and every request is logged.
This guide covers both.
Open the tab
In the Case Management sidebar, open Client cases.
Open the client.
Select the Medical record tab.
The mirrored record
The card is headed Medical record and has its own row of tabs:
Summary — the three most recent consultations, the client's active problems and their recent medications, side by side under the headings Recent consultations, Active problems and Recent medications.
Problems — split into Active, Major inactive and Minor inactive.
Consultations, Medications, Referrals, Diary — one list each, newest first.
Each entry shows the clinical term and its date, with the code and the clinician who authorised it where those were recorded.
Date filters and the all-time fallback
Every tab except Summary has From and To date boxes. Leave them empty and the tab shows the last month by default.
If that default month is empty, the tab quietly widens to show everything it holds and marks itself Showing all time (empty in the default window). That badge is telling you the entries on screen are older than the last month — it is not an error.
Once you set a From date yourself, the tab respects your dates exactly and does not widen. A period with nothing in it reads, for example, No consultations in this period.
If the Summary tab is empty
An empty mirrored record reads:
No mirrored medical-record data for this client yet. Use View medical record to open the live GP record where GP Connect is configured.
That means Joy holds no mirrored record for this client. It does not mean the client has no GP record. The mirrored view is filled from EMIS, so it stays empty where your organisation has no EMIS connection, where the client is not matched to it, or where nothing has been brought across yet. For a client at a SystmOne practice there is no mirrored record on this tab — the SystmOne integration is used for filing records back to the practice, not for showing the GP record here.
The live GP record (GP Connect)
Select View medical record at the top right of the card.
Permissions. The dialog opens on a permissions step: Please confirm that you have a legitimate relationship with this client and that you have obtained permission from the client to view this record. Only continue if both are true.
Access reason. Choose one of Direct Patient Care, Client has given consent, Emergency or Other. Your choice is recorded with the request.
Reason details. Choosing Other adds a Reason details (required) box. Continue stays unavailable until you have written something in it. The other three reasons do not ask for details.
ODS code. This is the code of the client's GP practice. Joy looks it up for you and fills the box in — while it is looking, the box shows Looking up practice..., and if no code is found it shows the example e.g. A12345. You can type or correct the code yourself.
Select Continue. The button reads Fetching record... while the request is out.
The record then opens under the heading GP medical record, described as Retrieved live from GP Connect. Every request (including refusals) is written to the GP access log.
Buttons across the top switch between the sections the practice returns: summary, encounters, clinical items, problems, allergies, medications, referrals, observations, immunisations and administrative. Selecting a section fetches it — each one is a fresh request, and each is logged in the same way. Where the practice returns nothing for a field, it shows as Not recorded or None rather than being hidden.
What the live view needs
An NHS number on the client. Without one the request is refused with This client has no NHS number on record. Add it on the client's Profile tab and try again.
GP Connect set up for your environment. If it is not, the permissions step shows an amber warning that begins GP Connect is not configured in this environment: with the reason, and a request made anyway is refused.
The practice set up for GP Connect access. The client's GP surgery must be on Joy and have the NHS data sharing agreement in place. Your account manager can arrange this.
Refusals
A refused request shows a red GP Connect request refused message with the reason the practice or the service gave — for example, that the client has no NHS number, or that GP Connect is not configured. You get the reason rather than a blank screen.
Refusals are recorded too. Every request, whether it succeeded or was refused, is written to your organisation's GP access log with your name, the client, the access reason you chose and the outcome. That log is available to your organisation's administrators.
Notes and troubleshooting
The mirrored tabs are empty but the live view works. That is normal where there is no EMIS mirror for this client. The two views are independent.
A tab says "Showing all time". The default one-month window was empty, so the tab widened by itself. Set a From date to control the period exactly.
"This client has no NHS number on record." Add the NHS number on the Profile tab, then reopen View medical record.
The amber "GP Connect is not configured" warning appears. Live retrieval is unavailable in the environment you are using. The mirrored tabs still work. Speak to your account manager about enabling GP Connect.
Nothing comes back for a section. The practice returned no entries for it. Try another section, or check with the practice.
Do I have to give a reason every time? Yes. The reason is part of the request and is what makes the access log meaningful. Reopening the dialog starts again at Direct Patient Care.
Related: How to read the Client Overview screen.