Scotland and England Differences for Registration Links

PARTNERS is by and large very similar to Registration Links for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, covered in the Registration Links and Registration on-screen help. There are a few differences:

• CHI number - This provides one of the main identification factors for patients in Scotland. Although it is not mandatory when registering a patient, their GP4 card should contain this information. New patients on an Approval Transaction may or may not contain an NHS number, but should contain a CHI number. Because the first six digits of the CHI number are the patient's date of birth, changes to the date of birth should be avoided if possible, and generate a new CHI number. If you reject an incoming Amendment Transaction, it does not update your system, unless it contains a change to the patient's CHI number. When entering a CHI number on a patient's Registration screen, enter the last four digits in the second box, the patient's date of birth completes automatically.
  Note - The second to last digit is odd if male, and even if female.

• NHS number - The inclusion of the NHS number is not mandatory in Scotland, but should be completed if known. No query NHS number should be used. The format of the NHS number is not validated but the characters used within it are, and it must be unique. The NHS number can be amended, regardless of link status; no Amendment Transaction is generated for linked practices. There is no Security - Amend NHS Number option in Registration for a Scottish practice.
• Title - Amendments to a patient's title does not generate an Amendment transaction in Scotland.
• Birth Surname - The patient's Birth Surname is part of the patient's details, though not mandatory.
• Sex - The Sex field can only be male or female (and not unknown or indeterminate) as the second to last CHI number digit relies on this.
• Institution codes - In Scotland these are the equivalent of residential institute codes in England. Institution codes are not widely used by every HB and are optional. Changes to the institute code result in an Outgoing Amendment transaction. Institute codes are included in an Acceptance transaction. As with England, institutes are added from Control Panel -File Maintenance - Organisation with a category of Residential Institute, and the institute code added in Identifiers selecting an Identifier Type of RI Code, and in Organisation, the relevant HB as TP/HB/CSA, and the code in Identifier Value.
• Place of birth - This is included in an Acceptance transaction.
• Rural mileage - This is covered by Road miles, Footpath miles and Water miles. Road miles must be between 3 and 99, or blank. Water and Footpath miles, relevant for some HBs, must be checked in Control Panel - File Maintenance - Organisation - [HB] in order for them to appear as prompts on a patient's Registration screen. Two digits (01-99) plus two decimal places can be used for Water and Footpath miles.
• Addresses - Long Address lines may be truncated. Flat numbers should be entered in House Name. Two localities can be entered on the same Locality line, separated by a comma and a space. Where there is a second thoroughfare, it should be entered in Number and Road after the first thoroughfare, separated by a comma and space. Where there is insufficient space in Number and Road for both thoroughfares, the First Thoroughfare (including the building number) should be inserted in House Name where this is blank, and the Second Thoroughfare in Number and Road. Or, if House Name is not blank, the Second Thoroughfare should be inserted in Locality where this is blank. If it remains impossible to insert the Second Thoroughfare, it should not be inserted.
• Change Address/Same or different HB - An Acceptance Transaction is generated automatically if a GP wishes to re-accept a patient where the patient has moved within the same HB (if the GP believes a Deduction Transaction is in error) or a different HB but remains within the practice area. In Scotland there is no New Health Board / Same GP Deduction Reason.
• Deducted patients - The Deduction reason list differs in Scotland. The following are used in Scotland, but not in England, Wales and Northern Ireland:
  • Enlistment
  • Institution
  • Transfer within Practice
  • Linkage
  • Untraced - Miscellaneous
  • Untraced - Immig
  • Untraced - GP Resign
  • Untraced - College
  • Untraced - outwith Practices
  • Untraced - outwith HB
  • Multiple Transfer

• Intro - consortium transfer

• The following Deduction Reasons are not used in Scotland:

  • Mental Hospital
  • Embarkation
  • New TP / Same GP
  • Adopted Child
  • Services

• STAR - Health Boards use the STAR (Striving Towards Accurate Records) program in Scotland to eliminate inflation from GP lists and to reconcile any data differences between the HB and the practice, particularly during downloads and uploads for data reconciliation.
• Uploads - Uploads received from the Health Board only contain details of the information which has been changed at the HB. Unchanged information fields are not advised to the practice. The % sign is not used to indicate that the contents of a field should be erased.
• Security functions - Use of the Security functions within Registration always require the patient's CHI number. There is an additional option - Amend Patient's CHI number and the English option of Security - Amend NHS number (generating AMH transaction) is removed for Scotland.
• Capitation Report - The Age Bands differ from England. In Scotland they are under 65, 65-74 and 75 and over.
• Transfer menu - English Registration screens (Partnership Reallocation, Bulk Transfer) are not available in Scotland.
• Daily Status screen - Not available to Scottish practices.
• Archive - see Archive in Scotland for details.