Patients Know Best (PKB)

Newly created radiology reports will be available to view online from Monday 16 December onwards.

If you are registered with PKB, these reports will appear automatically in your NHS App or PKB web portal 35 days after your test is carried out. The 35-day delay is necessary to allow the clinician who requested the test time to review results and discuss them with you if necessary.

Your PKB record will tell you if you have a radiology report pending and the date it will be available to view online.

If you cannot see a report online which you are expecting, at least 35 days after your test was carried out, please contact the clinician who referred you for the investigation.

Reports not available online

For the time being, reports from the following types of radiology tests will not be shared in the NHS App or PKB web portal:

• Tests carried out during pregnancy and after birth.
• Tests relating to the heart.
• Post-mortem examination reports.
• Historical radiology reports.
• Tests requested by private healthcare providers - they may appear in the NHS App only if they are shared with the GP and the GP is able to make them available online.

Finding my radiology report 

NHS App

1. Once logged into the NHS App, click ‘Your health’.
2. Select ‘Test results and imaging’, followed by ‘Hospital-ordered test results’ and ‘Imaging reports’.
3. A message may appear confirming that this service is provided by Patients Know Best. Select ‘Continue’ to be taken the PKB page which will display any reports created by our Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust.

PKB web portal

1. Once registered, log in to PKB through https://my.patientsknowbest.com.
2. Click ‘Health’ button and select ‘Imaging’. This will display any text reports created by our Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust.

The information in your radiology report

You’ll see:

• The Trust responsible for carrying out the test and creating the report.
• The date the test was carried out and who requested the test, where it is available.
• The written report created by the health professional who reviewed the test results - the radiology image itself will not be available.
• A note confirming that the report is intended to be read by healthcare professionals and if the patient has any questions or if they can't see a report online which they are expecting. Then they should contact the clinician who referred them for the investigation and other NHS providers that requested them, in the usual way.

Test reports shared with GPs

Reports will continue to be shared with GPs and other NHS providers that requested them, in the usual way. Results will not be sent to GPs or other NHS providers if they did not order the test.

Appointment information from most of our outpatient services are shared online through PKB and the NHS App. Only appointments confirmed in our main hospital systems are available in the ‘Events and messages’ section of PKB and in ‘Upcoming and past appointment’, then ‘Hospital appointments’ section of the NHS App.

The specialty, date and time of your appointment will be confirmed. Where possible, the location of your appointment and name of the consultant who your appointment is with will also be shared. However, you should refer to your original letter, telephone call or text message received confirming your appointment.

It may take up to two weeks for your printed appointment letter to reach you in the post, whereas information is available to view instantly online, once the booking team have made your appointment in our hospital systems. 

There’s no need to call the hospital to confirm your attendance at an appointment – your attendance is presumed unless you need to cancel or change your appointment.

If an appointment is changed or cancelled, it will be clear online which information is most recent. If you have any questions or if you need to change or cancel an appointment, please contact one of our centres:

• Basildon — call 0300 443 0101
• Broomfield —  call 0300 443 0103
• Southend — call 0300 443 0105.

For the time-being, appointments are view-only in PKB and NHS App. Soon, functionality allowing you to request a change or cancel your upcoming appointment will be available. You will simply select a button that will generate a message to our appointment booking team. The appointment booking team will then be able to contact you to rearrange your appointment.

Inpatient discharge letters are the documents you receive after an overnight or day admission to hospital, outlining your treatment and future care needs. A digital copy, the same as the printed version you receive (it won’t replace it), is saved in the ‘Events and messages’ section of the PKB portal, which you can also see in the NHS App.

For the time being, inpatient discharge letters for our maternity and emergency (A&E) departments are not available in PKB or the NHS App. 

You can access PKB through the web-based portal: https://my.patientsknowbest.com or via the NHS App, using your NHS login. If you do not have an NHS login, create one at https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/online-services/nhs-login. The NHS App is a free, simple and secure way to access a range of NHS services on a smartphone or tablet.

Once you have logged in to the NHS App and navigated to the information, the PKB registration page will appear. You will be prompted to create a password. You can then access your information online in either through the PKB web portal at https://my.patientsknowbest.com or through the NHS App.

For guidance, see https://wiki.patientsknowbest.com/space/MAN/3624075361/NHS+App+%26+NHS+Login.

You will be sent automated email notifications from no-reply-uk@patientsknowbest.com when new information is added to your PKB record.

You can also receive notifications from the NHS App. Learn more on the NHS website at https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-app/nhs-app-help-and-support/nhs-app-account-and-settings/managing-nhs-app-notifications.

It's of utmost importance that we maintain accurate and up-to-date records for our patients. Your name, date of birth, gender and NHS number is uploaded to PKB based on your most recent activity with us and checked against the NHS Personal Demographics Service (PDS), so it should be the most accurate information we hold for you. You can read more about the PDS at https://digital.nhs.uk/services/personal-demographics-service#about-this-service .

If your information in PKB is incorrect, please contact mse.pkb@nhs.net. We ask that you include your NHS number in your email so that we can identify you in our databases.

Controlling access to your record

You have control over who can access your PKB record. If you wish to, you can securely share your PKB information digitally with those who are helping care for you, such as your GP, pharmacist, family members, carers, or anyone else that is supporting you. You can share your entire record, or just parts of it and you can change your mind and remove access at any time.

A healthcare professional can also invite a carer directly to access a health record of their patient from within the PKB system. Find out more at  https://wiki.patientsknowbest.com/space/MAN/3624730683/Sharing.

Historical health information

Historical appointments and health information will not be added to PKB. If you would like access to information that forms part of your health record from a previous stay, visit or appointment at one of our hospitals, you will need to contact our Access to Health Records team. Find out how, at https://www.mse.nhs.uk/access-to-health-records.

Making sure data is secure

PKB complies with all national standards for health data security. It also undergoes rigorous testing. You can read more about how data is stored and managed on our Fair processing and privacy notice page. Whether you choose to use PKB or not, the quality of care you receive from us will remain the same and we will continue to communicate with you in the same way that we do currently.

Opting out of sharing your information

Please contact mse.pkb@nhs.net at any time, if you want to opt out or opt back in to allowing your patient information to be shared in our PKB portal and the NHS App. If you choose to opt out of sharing your data, your personal health information will still be used by the NHS to make sure you get the treatment and care you need. For example, your data may be shared between health organisations so that you can be referred to hospital or get the prescription or treatment you need.

For guidance on setting up your NHS account, visit https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/online-services/nhs-login.

A PKB user manual can be viewed at  https://manual.patientsknowbest.com/patient. This offers guidance on a wide variety of functionality. A link to this manual is conveniently located at the top of the PKB portal as well, for easy access. Here are some short-cuts to guidance in the manual which we think you may find useful:

• Using NHS Login to access PKB and viewing PKB via the NHS App
• Setting and resetting passwords
• Finding appointments
• Accessing imaging reports
• Sharing your record with a family member, friend, carer or professional
• Email notifications

If you have a question that has not been answered above, please email mse.pkb@nhs.net.