The External Referral Portal is a redesigned interface through which external clinicians and care professionals, such as GPs, social workers, and hospital discharge teams submit referrals to NHS Integrated Care Boards (ICBs). The new portal introduces a modern, guided interface alongside a number of new features designed to simplify and streamline the referral submission process.
📌 Note: This is not a new system. The portal is an overlay on top of the existing Access Adam SProc platform, The underlying technology, data, and configuration remain unchanged.
All existing referral configuration and setup continues to work exactly as before. Referrers will find that their existing referral types, ICB selections, and activity types are all present and behave as expected.
The External Referrer Dashboard
When an external referrer logs in, they are presented with the External Referrer Dashboard. This is the home screen for all referral activity and provides an at a glance summary of the referrer's current workload across all submission statuses.
Status summary tiles
Six summary tiles sit at the top of the dashboard. The Total tile is the parent it encompasses all referrals regardless of status. The remaining five tiles represent the major status groupings, each of which can be selected to filter the referral list below.
Status tile | Description |
Total | The parent tile. Displays the count of every referral submitted by the referrer, regardless of status. Selecting Total shows all referrals unfiltered. |
Action Required | Referrals requiring the referrer's attention. For example, incomplete submissions or referrals returned by the ICB. Sub-filters: Pending Completion and Pending Information. |
Pending QA / Assessment | Referrals that have been submitted and are under review by the ICB. No action is required from the referrer at this stage. Sub-filters: Pending Review and Further Assessment. |
Eligible | Referrals where the patient has been assessed as eligible for Continuing Healthcare (CHC) or the relevant care type and approved by the ICB. |
Not Eligible | Referrals where the patient has been assessed as not meeting the eligibility threshold. The referral has been declined. |
Cancelled | Referrals that have been withdrawn by the referrer or cancelled by the ICB. |
Status sub-filters
When a tile is active, a row of sub-filter tags appears beneath the tiles, allowing the referrer to isolate referrals by their precise status. All sub-filters sit within the Total count.
Under Action Required:
Pending Completion: Referrals started by the referrer that have not yet been fully submitted. These remain in draft until all required steps are completed and the referral is formally submitted.
Pending Information: Referrals returned by the ICB because additional information or documentation is required from the referrer before the assessment can proceed.
Under Pending QA or Assessment:
Pending Review: Referrals that have been fully submitted and are awaiting initial quality assurance review by the ICB. No action is required from the referrer at this stage.
Further Assessment: Referrals where the ICB has determined that a more detailed or multi-disciplinary assessment is needed before an eligibility decision can be made.
Standalone statuses:
Eligible: The patient has been assessed as eligible. These mirror the Eligible summary tile.
Not Eligible: The patient has been assessed as not meeting the eligibility threshold.
Cancelled: The referral has been withdrawn by the referrer or cancelled by the ICB.
Search and filtering
The dashboard includes a search bar supporting search by Referral Form ID, Patient Name, or NHS Number. Two dropdown filters allow further narrowing by Referral Type and ICB. A Reset Filters button clears all active filters instantly.
Referral cards
Each referral appears as a card displaying: Patient Name, Referral Form ID, NHS Number, ICB, Activity Type, Referral Type, Date Created, Date Last Updated, and a status badge. Clicking a card opens the full referral detail view.
The referral wizard
The referral wizard is the core submission journey for external referrers. It is a multi-step, guided form that adapts its steps based on the Activity Type and Referral Type selected. Referrals can be saved and resumed at any point.
The wizard is divided into two key areas:
Referral Progress Panel (left) - Shows overall percentage completion, ICB, Activity Type, Referral Type, and date last modified.
Step Content Area (right) - The active form step currently being completed.
📌 Note: The exact steps presented within the wizard vary depending on the Activity Type and Referral Type selected. Not all steps described in this article will appear for every referral.
Once Start Referral and Patient Information have been completed, you are free to navigate between the remaining steps in any order. Steps can be skipped and returned to at any point, there is no requirement to complete them sequentially. The referral cannot be submitted until all required steps are complete.
Step navigation panel
All steps are listed in the Referral Steps panel on the left. Completed steps display a green tick. The active step is highlighted in teal. Steps not yet accessible are shown in grey. Some steps such as Domain Assessment expand to reveal sub-items with their own completion indicators.
Start referral
The first step requires you to select the Integrated Care Board (ICB) you are submitting the referral to. Once an ICB is selected, choose an Activity Type and Referral Type, which determine the structure of the remainder of the journey.
⚠️ Important: If the required ICB is not visible in the list, it may not be enrolled to receive electronic referral forms through SProc. In this case, follow your existing submission process for that ICB.
Patient information and PDS lookup
The Patient Information step integrates with the NHS Personal Demographics Service (PDS/SPINE) to search for and verify patient details, pre-populating the form automatically where a match is found.
Search methods:
NHS Number - Enter the patient's 10-digit NHS number. This is the quickest and most accurate method.
Demographic Details - Search using First Name, Last Name, Date of Birth, Gender, and optionally Postcode. Wildcard searches using * are supported.
Search outcomes:
When a patient is found, their Name, NHS Number, Date of Birth, Gender, Address, and GP Practice are displayed for review. Selecting Confirm and Auto-fill pre-populates the referral form with this data, reducing data entry time and the risk of transcription errors.
If no match is found in PDS, you can search again with alternative details or select Enter Manually to input patient details without a PDS match.
📌 Note: If the Personal Demographics Service is unavailable or experiencing issues, the Enter Manually option will always be available. You can proceed by entering patient details directly without a PDS match, ensuring referrals can be submitted even during periods of service disruption.
GP practice lookup
As part of the Patient Information step, you must confirm the patient's registered GP practice using a searchable lookup. You can search by practice name, ODS code, or location. Results display the practice name, ODS code, and commissioning group.
Screening questions
For CHC referrals, a set of screening questions must be completed. These are a clinical pre-qualification step they verify that the patient needs a full NHS Continuing Healthcare assessment before committing clinical resources to the complete multi-domain evaluation.
Domain assessment
For CHC referrals, the Domain Assessment step requires you to complete a structured clinical assessment across a defined set of care domains. Each domain presents descriptor options grouped by priority level:
Level A (High Priority) - Indicators of the highest level of need.
Level B (Moderate Priority) - Indicators of moderate need.
Level C (Low Priority) - Indicators of low or minimal need.
Level D (No Need) - No identified need within this domain.
As you select descriptors across any of the priority levels, the Current Needs Description field is automatically populated to reflect those selections. You can then edit this text freely to provide additional context or amend the wording. If you wish to revert to the auto-generated text based on your current selections, the Rebuild option regenerates the description. A Clear option is also available to remove the description entirely.
Equality monitoring
Equality Monitoring is captured as a fully digitised form directly within the referral wizard. You no longer need to complete a separate paper or uploaded document all required equality information is collected inline as part of the submission journey. A Patient Prefers Not to Say button sets all fields to the Prefer not to answer option in a single action.
Recommendation
Following the completion of the Domain Assessment, the Recommendation and rationale for the decision is provided. The Recommendation section presents a suggested outcome based on the scores entered across the clinical domains. This suggestion is calculated automatically to help guide the MDT's discussion, but it is not binding. The MDT reviews the suggestion, agrees their own decision, and records both the outcome and their rationale before submitting the assessment.
Assessors and digital signature
The Assessors step requires at least one assessor to be added via the Add Assessor button before the referral can be submitted.
The digital signature panel automatically pre-populates with the last signature saved to your account, so in most cases no action is needed. If you need to provide a new or updated signature, select Sign and draw your signature using your mouse in the panel provided. The signature constitutes your declaration that the information submitted is accurate and complete.
Documents
The Documents step allows you to attach supporting clinical documentation to the referral, such as previous assessments, hospital discharge summaries, GP letters, or specialist reports.
Submission
The final step presents a summary of the completed referral for review before submission. Once submitted, the referral is sent electronically to the selected ICB and the status updates accordingly on the dashboard.