When you are adding a client, Joy can look them up on the NHS Spine and fill in their demographics for you — name, date of birth, NHS number, address and registered GP surgery — so you are not copying them off a letter or reading them back over the phone.
The lookup uses the NHS Personal Demographics Service (PDS), the national record of patient demographics.
Before you start: the Spine lookup is switched on per organisation. If your organisation does not have it, there is no Autofill client details panel anywhere in the add-a-client window, and nothing described here appears — add the client by hand instead, exactly as in the guide on adding a client manually. Everything on the form works the same way either way.
Run the lookup
In the Case Management sidebar, open Client cases and select Add case.
On Step 01, find the Autofill client details panel at the top. Underneath the heading it reads Populate the form by searching the NHS Personal Demographics Service (PDS).
Select Autofill to open the panel. (The same button then reads Hide, which closes the panel again without changing anything.)
Choose how to search: NHS number or Personal details.
Fill in the search boxes — see below for what each one needs. If you have already typed any of these into the form, they are copied into the panel for you the first time you open it.
Select Search the Spine. The button reads Searching... while the lookup runs.
Searching by NHS number
Select NHS number and enter the client's 10-digit NHS number in the single NHS number box. This is the more reliable of the two searches, because an NHS number identifies one person exactly.
If you enter fewer than 10 digits, Joy does not attempt the lookup and tells you: Enter a full NHS number to search. Manual entry still works below.
Searching by personal details
Select Personal details and fill in all three boxes:
First name
Last name
Date of birth
All three are needed. With any of them missing you see Enter a first name, last name, and date of birth to search. Manual entry still works below.
This search is less precise than an NHS number: names are matched on the client's usual name, so somebody recorded under a maiden name, a shortened first name or a different spelling may not be found even though they are on the Spine.
What comes back
A successful lookup fills these fields on Step 01:
First name, Last name, Date of birth, Gender
NHS number
Address line 1, City, Postcode
Phone, Email
GP surgery — the client's registered practice
You see the confirmation Details filled from the NHS Spine. Review and edit everything before saving. Take that literally:
Check the result is the right person before you go any further, especially after a personal-details search.
Every filled field is still editable. Type over anything that is wrong or out of date.
Nothing you typed is wiped. Where the Spine has no value for a field — no phone number, say — whatever you had already entered is left alone. Where the Spine does have a value, it replaces what was there.
Nothing is saved yet. The client is only created when you complete Step 02 and select Add client.
The duplicate check runs on the autofilled details too, so if the person is already in your organisation the amber Possible existing clients box appears straight away. See the guide on adding a client manually for what to do about it.
When there is no match, or the lookup fails
Every message from the panel ends with Manual entry still works below, and that is the important part: a failed lookup never stops you adding the client.
No match: 0 match has been found. Nobody on the Spine matched what you searched for. Check the NHS number or the spelling and date of birth, try the other search, or simply fill the form in by hand.
Not available in your environment: a message saying PDS search is not configured, naming the setting that is missing. This is a system configuration matter, not something you can fix on the form — report it to your Joy contact and carry on manually.
Anything else: the panel shows the reason the Spine gave. Try again; if it keeps failing, add the client manually and report it.
In all of these cases nothing you have typed is lost, and Add client still works exactly as normal.
What happens next
Move on to Step 02 and finish adding the client as usual, including the consent tick box — see the guide on adding a client manually.
Lookups are recorded. Each Spine search is logged against you, the signed-in staff member, along with your organisation and whether you searched by NHS number or by personal details. Only look up people you are supporting or about to support.
Where else the panel appears
The same Autofill client details panel appears when you record a referral you have received outside Joy, so a referral logged from a letter or a phone call can be filled from the Spine in the same way. It behaves identically, and it is gated on the same organisation setting.
Troubleshooting
I cannot see the Autofill client details panel. Your organisation does not have the Spine lookup switched on. Ask your Joy contact whether it can be enabled; in the meantime, add the client by hand.
The panel is there but every search fails. The lookup needs both the organisation setting and a working connection to the Spine. If the message mentions configuration, report it — it cannot be fixed from the form.
The details that came back are out of date. The Spine holds what the client's GP practice has recorded. Correct the fields on the form before saving, and encourage the client to update their details with their practice.
A client I know is on the Spine is not found. Try the NHS number search instead of Personal details. Name searches match the usual recorded name, so nicknames, shortened names and previous surnames often miss.