NHS App & NHS login
Using NHS login to access PKB directly
Patients over 16 can both register and log in to PKB using their NHS login, this includes users without an existing record so they can use NHS login to verify their identity & create a PKB record.
Creating an NHS login
If you do not have an existing NHS login, you will be prompted to create one after entering your email from the NHS login sign in page. NHS Digital have published a video and step by step guide on how patients can do this here
How to sign into PKB directly using your NHS login
This step by step guide is for patients with a registered Patients Know Best record.
Click 'Continue to NHS login' from the PKB log in page
You will be directed to the NHS login sign in page
Enter your email and click continue
Enter your NHS login password & you will be sent a One Time Password (OTP) to your mobile phone.
Enter the OTP and click continue
You will now need to agree to share your NHS login information with PKB
You will now be signed into PKB.
How to register to PKB directly using your NHS login
This step by step guide is for patients who wish to register for a new or existing Patients Know Best record. Patients must be over 16 years old to register via NHS Login.
Click 'Continue to NHS login' from PKB log in page
You will be directed to the NHS login sign in page
Enter your email and click continue
Enter your NHS login password & you will be sent a One Time Password (OTP) to your mobile phone.
Enter the OTP and click continue
You will now need to agree to share your NHS login information with PKB
You will be shown a registration form to complete. The form requires you to set up a password and security question for your PKB account, enter your address, and to accept both the User Agreement & Privacy Policy for PKB.
Complete the form and click next and you will be signed into PKB with your NHS login.
How to self-register from a team registration page
This guide is for patients who wish to register for a new or existing Patients Know Best record from a specific team's registration page. Patients must be over 16 years old to register via NHS Login.
Click 'Continue to NHS login' from the team registration page
You will be directed to the NHS login sign-in page
Enter your email and click continue (if your email does not match an existing NHS login - you will be automatically directed through the process of creating one)
Enter your NHS login password & you will be sent a One Time Password (OTP) to your mobile phone.
Enter the OTP and click continue
You will now need to agree to share your NHS login information with PKB
You will be shown a registration form to complete. The form requires you to set up a password and security question for your PKB account, enter your address, and accept both the User Agreement & Privacy Policy for PKB.
Complete the form and click next and you will be signed into PKB with your NHS login & linked to the specified team so you can access their resources.
Accessing PKB from the NHS App
Patients can access parts of their PKB record from within the NHS App and can use NHS login’s encrypted single sign-on to do so. This option is currently only available to users on a regional basis where the region has specified that PKB is their Patient Held Record (PHR) provider.
This allows patients to access the same PHR data inside the NHS App interface, for a more seamless and joined-up NHS experience.
Currently, the Events & Messages, Appointments, Medicines, Plans, Tests, Imaging, Symptoms, Measurements, Journal, Library & Sharing pages can all be accessed from within the NHS App.
To access PKB 'Events & messages' from the NHS App homepage, click on 'View your messages' from the homepage or 'Messages' from the navigation bar and then click on the 'Consultations, events and messages' button.
To access PKB 'Library' from the NHS App, click on the 'Shared health links' button found in the NHS App 'Your Health' section from the main navigation.
To access PKB 'Appointments' from the NHS App, click on 'Appointments' from the main navigation, then 'Hospital & other appointments' & 'View appointments'.
To access PKB 'Plans' from the NHS App, click on 'Your health' from the main navigation then 'Care plans'
To access PKB 'Medicines' pages from the NHS app, click 'Prescriptions' & then 'Hospital & other medicines'
To access PKB 'Symptoms', 'Measurements' or 'Journal' pages from the NHS app, click on 'Your health' then 'Track your health'
To access PKB 'Tests' or 'Imaging' from the NHS app, click on 'Your health' then 'Test results and imaging'
To access PKB 'Sharing (Professionals)' page from the NHS App, click on 'Your health' then 'Record sharing
Patients can change their language at the bottom of each page.
The following areas have the PKB & NHS App integration enabled:
Bedford, Luton and Milton Keynes ICS
Bedford
Luton
Cheshire & Merseyside ICS
East Cheshire
Derbyshire ICS
Devon ICS
Hertfordshire and West Essex
West Essex
Humber Coast and Vale ICS
Kent & Medway ICS
Mid and South Essex
Northamptonshire ICS
North Central London ICS
North East London ICS
North West London ICS
Nottingham & Nottinghamshire ICS
South Yorkshire ICS
Barnsley
Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent ICS
Suffolk and North East Essex
North East Essex
Sussex ICS
West Yorkshire ICS
North Kirklees
Wakefield
How to register for PKB from the NHS App
1. Log into NHS App with NHS login
2. Enter your NHS login details
3. Enter security code
4. Click on any PKB jump-off point such as 'Care plans' found under the 'Your health' section
5. Click continue to access PKB
6. Agree to share your NHS login information with PKB
7. Complete PKB registration form which includes setting up your password & security question & click 'Next' at the bottom of the page.
8. Arrive in PKB & review sharing settings, click 'continue' and then 'save' on the last page. You will then be taken to the PKB jump-off you selected in step 4.
9. Registration complete - Welcome to Patients Know Best!
Once registered, you will be taken to the area of PKB you selected to go to from the NHS App.
A welcome email will be sent to your email address.
You no longer have to manually sign in when navigating to PKB from the NHS App, your NHS login can now do this for you.
You can also log in directly to PKB from a web browser using your email address & the password you just created.
How to set up Single Sign On to PKB from the NHS App
1. Log into NHS App with NHS login
2. Enter your NHS login email
3. Enter NHS login password
4. Enter the security code sent to your phone
5. Click on any PKB jump-off point such as 'Care plans' found under the 'Your health' section
6. Click continue to access PKB
7. Agree to share your NHS login information
8. Arrive in PKB
Accessing PKB Events & messages
Click on 'View your messages' from the homepage or 'Messages' in the navigation menu
2. Click on 'Your hospital and specialist doctors'
3. Click 'Continue'
4. You will land on the PKB Events & messages page
Accessing PKB Library
Click on 'Your heath' in the main NHS App navigation menu
Click on 'Shared health links'
3. Click 'Continue'
4. You will land on the PKB Library page
Accessing PKB appointments
Click on 'Appointments' in the main NHS App navigation menu
Click on 'Hospital & other appointments' in the sub menu
3. Scroll to the bottom of the page & click on 'Additional appointment information'
4. Click 'Continue'
5. You will land on the PKB main 'Appointments' page
Accessing PKB Wayfinder appointments
The NHS App is working with acute NHS Trusts to enable patients to securely view summary details of their referrals and scheduled appointments within the NHS App. If your Trust is taking part in this programme (Wayfinder), you will find any upcoming appointments from that trust in the NHS App in the Appointments section. If the appointment is stored in PKB, you can access more detailed information for that appointment by clicking on the ‘View or manage this appointment’ button.
The acute trusts that are part of this programme are:
Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
East Cheshire NHS Trust
The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust
Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
East Sussex Hospital Trust
Chelsea & Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust
Dartford & Gravesham NHS Trust
Click on 'Appointments' in the main NHS App navigation menu
Click on 'Referrals, hospital & other appointments' in the sub menu
3. Click on 'View or manage this appointment' for any appointment
4. If the appointment is from PKB, you will be direct to PKB. Click 'Continue'
5. You will land on the PKB 'View appointment' page
Appointment messaging
Some organisations offer appointment messaging, this allows you to send secure messages to reschedule or cancel your record to the appointments team. If the organisation that added the appointment offers this service, you will see buttons to reschedule or cancel your appointment. You can read more about appointment messaging here
No appointments to view
If the source of your appointment is not part of this programme, or you have no future appointments booked, you can still access your PKB appointments by clicking on ‘Additional appointment information’ in the ‘Other services’ section.
Accessing PKB Plans
Click on 'Your health' from the main NHS App navigation menu
2. Click on 'Care plans'
3. Click 'Continue'
4. You will land on the PKB Plans page
Accessing PKB Medicines
Click on ' Order a repeat prescription' on the NHS App homepage or 'Prescriptions' in the navigation footer
2. Click on 'Hospital & other medicines'
3. Click 'Continue'
4. You will land on the PKB Medicines page
Accessing PKB Symptoms
Click on 'Your health' in the main NHS App navigation menu
2. Click on 'Track your health'
3. Click on 'Symptoms'
4. You will land on the PKB Symptoms page
Accessing PKB Measurements
Click on 'Your health' in the main NHS App navigation menu
2. Click on 'Track your health'
3. Click 'Continue'
4. You will land on the PKB 'Measurements' page
Accessing PKB Journal
Click on 'Your health' in the main NHS App navigation menu
2. Click on 'Track your health'
3. Click on 'Journal'
4. You will land on the PKB Journal page
Accessing PKB Tests
Click on 'Your health' in the main NHS App navigation menu
2. Click on 'Test results and imaging'
3. Click on 'Test results'
4. You will land on the PKB Tests page
Accessing PKB Imaging
Click on 'Your health' in the main NHS App navigation menu
2. Click on 'Test results and imaging'
3. Click on 'Imaging reports'
4. You will land on the PKB Imaging page
Accessing PKB Sharing - Professionals
Click on 'Your health' in the main NHS App navigation menu
2. Click on 'Record Sharing'
3. Click on 'Continue'
4. You will land on the PKB Professionals page
Notifications from PKB in the NHS App
Notifications about new messages
Patients receive native smartphone notifications from the NHS App when there are new messages for them in PKB.
Patients receive these notifications for new activity in the Events & messages section, which includes messages from their professionals, new documents, information on hospital visits and consultations (questionnaires).
The patient can read their message from within the NHS App by tapping on the notification.
To learn how to manage NHS App notifications, see https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-app/nhs-app-help-and-support/nhs-app-account-and-settings/managing-nhs-app-notifications/
Troubleshooting
If you see this error screen it means the details on your NHS login do not match those on your PKB record so we were unable to link your accounts.
Contact our support desk with the reference provided on the screen to troubleshoot.
If you see this error screen it means your registration is complete but your organisation need to activate your record
A clinician or administrator from any organisation with access to your record simply needs to log in to the system to activate your account, when this is complete, we will send you an email to you to let you know.
If you see this error screen, it means the email linked to your NHS login is attached to a record in PKB already, which is not a patient record.
Please note that the NHS login is only to be used in conjunction with a patient record. You will need to make sure the email on your NHS login is not the same email used for your PKB professional or coordinator role so you can link it to your patient record.
If you see this error screen, it means your NHS login details have changed since they were originally paired with PKB & the connection needs to be reset. Click on the link to reset the connection.
Users who have updated or changed their NHS login credentials will be shown this screen which allows them to reconnect their NHS login to PKB to re-enable Single Sign On.
If you see this error screen, it means your clinical team has marked your record for no access.
Please contact the clinical teams with access to your record to find out why you are unable to access.
If you see this error screen, it means your registered GP practice is not in an area where NHS login can be used to log in to PKB.
This may be a temporary restriction. Please use your existing PKB username and password to log in., or contact your clinical team if you have not yet registered and they can invite you via email.
Age restrictions
If a patient is aged 16 or over, they can claim or create a PKB record using NHS login, however if the Patient is under 16, PKB are unable to determine whether the user is mature enough to claim their account and will therefore prevent them from doing so. These patients will see a warning message when they try and access PKB from the NHS App which reads 'You are too young to register: Patients must be 16 or over to register for this service (Patients Know Best) using their NHS login.'
Patients under 16 will need to be invited to claim their record by a healthcare professional who can assess whether they have sufficient maturity and capacity to make decisions relating to their health care. If a professional has already given the patient access, they can use NHS login to access their record.
Proxy access in the NHS App
Proxy access in the NHS App currently only relates to the GP services, as they offer the ability to do proxy. When "proxying" all other services such as Patients Know Best are shuttered off / hidden and therefore will not be accessible.
Custom log in page
Organisations using Patients Know Best (PKB) might choose to use a custom PKB log in page. This allows them to have a login page with their own customised branding, artwork & links for users.
If you (a patient) choose to register using your NHS login from an organisation's custom log-in page and you do not have an existing PKB record, you will be asked whether you are a patient of that organisation in the registration form
If you select yes, you will be added to the team, which means you can access that team's resources and the team can access the parts of your record that you choose to share.
If you select 'No', you will not be added to that team and your record will not be shared, after completing registration you will not see any teams in the sharing section & you will see the default PKB welcome message on the home page (see below)
Default PKB welcome message:
Welcome [Patient first NAME]
Patients Know Best is a single place to store your health information.
Start building your record
Here are some examples to get you started:
Track your health: Go to measurements
Add your emergency data: Go to medicines
Plan your care: Go to plans
Add your upcoming appointments. Go to appointments
Records from your health & social care teams
New clinical teams are adding data to PKB every day. Meanwhile, the more data you add, the more useful your PKB record is to your clinicians.