Skip to main content
GP2GP

GP2GP allows patients' electronic health records to be transferred directly, securely, and quickly between their old and new practices, when they change GPs. This improves patient care by making full and detailed medical records available to practices, for a new patient's first and later consultations.

Page contents

Fast, secure and safe

The General Medical Services GP Contract requires practices to use GP2GP for transferring electronic health records.

Patients expect GPs to have their medical records for their first consultation at the new practice. With GP2GP, the record arrives straight after the registration. In comparison, paper medical records can take weeks or months to arrive.

GP2GP also means practices can support the Health Secretary's objective that patients should have digital records that follow them around the health and social care system.

How GP2GP works

GP2GP is a three-stage process.

  1. The first stage is to register the new patient on the clinical system and perform a Personal Demographics Service search, to see if the patient has an entry on the Spine. A successful search and match will request their electronic health record to be sent.
  2. The second stage, sending, is automated and usually takes no more than a couple of minutes.
  3. Once the record is received, the third stage is to integrate or file the record into the clinical system. This makes it available for use within the practice and also informs the sending practice if they need to print copies of the record or attachments, before they send the Lloyd George envelope to the new practice.

Integration should be performed promptly, whilst degrades and medication authorisation can be completed later, by summarisers or clinicians. The patient's new and old GP practices currently both need to be in England and each to be live with GP2GP.

Benefits

  • Full electronic health record available for the patient's first and subsequent consultations. This improves continuity of care for on-going medical conditions
  • No need for patients to provide a detailed account of their previous medical history to their new clinician, as the integrated electronic health record is visible
  • Safer prescribing provided by access to the patient's current and past medication and to any recorded allergies and adverse reactions
  • Repeat medication details will be available for the patient's first medication review with the new GP
  • GP2GP allows the NHS to preserve the usability of rich data accumulated in patient records

Further information

internal GP2GP version 2.2

GP2GP version 2.2 increases the number of digital transfers and brings common sense improvements, like reducing paper printing for patients that leave.

Last edited: 11 August 2021 3:54 pm