Orphaned Record Continuity

When a GP practice closes, in most cases the integrated care board (ICB) will move patients to other local practices. 

In some cases, an ICB will not move the patients of closing practices to other practices. These patients have a limited time to register themselves at another practice. The records of patients who do not re-register in time can be stored with the Orphaned Record Continuity (ORC) service. ICBs should contact the Patient Record Management team (PRM) team to request this. 

The ORC service securely stores a GP2GP message which contains an encoded copy of the patient's electronic health record (EHR).

When the patient with an orphaned record later registers with a new GP practice, a GP2GP request is made to the ORC service. The EHR is sent to the patient's new practice and the patient's record is removed from storage.

If you represent a GP surgery receiving an EHR from this service and are having problems, please contact [email protected]. 

This service is for ICBs and commissioning support units (CSUs). It allows them to manage patient record continuity for closing GP practices.

Who is included

The service holds records for patients who have been orphaned when their GP practice closed (provided the closing practice participated in the service).

What information is held

The service normally holds a full GP record for each patient - as defined in the scope of the GP2GP interface.

However, in some cases, GP2GP can 'fail' to transfer either complete records or parts of records. A common example of this is attachments such as letters. Such failures generally result in records or attachments being printed and not included in the GP2GP transfer.

ICBs and CSUs are strongly encouraged to contact the PRM team when a GP practice in their region is earmarked for closure. 

The PRM team work with the ICBs, CSUs and Primary Care Support England (PCSE) to keep EHRs safe when GP practices close. 

ICBs can contact the PRM team to arrange for the records of patients from closing practices to be stored with the ORC service. 

This service is live. 

This is a bronze service, meaning it is available and supported during business hours 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday but not bank holidays.

The service went live in September 2024. There are no additional updates planned.

ICBs and CSUs should contact the PRM team at [email protected] when a GP practice in their region is earmarked for closure.