How to find a patient

When you have logged into NCRS and selected your role, you will be taken to the ‘Find a patient’ screen. You can find a patient using different search methods.

There are different search options available based on users' role-based access control (RBAC) levels.

B0264 can find a patient using:

• basic patient details
• advanced patient details
• NHS numbers

B0098 can find a patient using:

• basic patient details
• advanced patient details
• NHS numbers
• patient postcodes

If you used to be able to search by postcode but cannot see the option anymore, it might be because your RBAC has changed. Contact your Registration Authority to check.

This will be a 10 digit number, like 999 123 4567.

The patient can find their NHS number (opens in new tab) if they do not know it.

To search by basic details, you will need the patient's: 

• gender 
• last name 
• date of birth 

To search by advanced details, you'll need the patient's:

• gender
• last name
• date of birth or age range

You can narrow your search by adding the patient's:

• first name
• postcode
• date or year of death

You can widen your search to include similar names and misspellings

Only roles with RBAC code B0098 can search for a patient using a postcode. 

You'll need the patient’s full postcode.

You can narrow your search by adding:

• first name
• last name
• date of birth
• previous occupants of a property from a specified date range (years or dates)

You can use an asterisk (*) to include more options in your search, if you only know part of a patient’s:

• first name
• last name
• postcode

You must enter the first 2 letters of the name or postcode. For example:

• Edm* could match Edmonds, Edmunds or Edmunds-Smith
• LS* could match LS1 7YU or LS12 8HY (this only works for postcodes in the advanced search tab)
• K*n could match Kahn or Khan

This will not work if you select the option to ‘Widen search to include similar names and misspellings’ on the ‘Advanced’ tab.

If your search matches more than one patient, you will be able to choose the patient you’re searching for from a list of results.

If you can’t find the right patient, you can navigate back and refine your search or select another patient.