Make assisted forms clear for patients and carers

What this means for your practice

Make the responder's role and the intended contact route clear. Use the organisation's approved authority and information-handling process rather than assuming every helper can act on another person's behalf.

What to ask before you choose

Complete an assisted fictional submission and review it from reception's side. Can staff identify both roles without guessing? Your approved process should address authority questions. The form should direct these to the right team rather than assuming every helper can act on someone else's behalf.

Use labels that distinguish the people involved

Read the form as someone helping a relative. A question saying 'Your telephone number' can be unclear when the person typing is not the person receiving care. Name whose details are needed at each point, and explain the intended contact arrangement in words the receiving team can understand.

Test the completed record from reception's side using fictional people. Staff should be able to identify the patient, the helper and any stated contact preference without inferring a relationship from a shared address or surname. A helper's involvement does not automatically settle questions about authority to receive information or make decisions. Have the responsible team define the appropriate process and a route for clarification. Keep the form focused on collecting the details needed for that process. Include an example where the helper starts the form but the patient should receive the next administrative message. This reveals whether the system has accidentally treated the person typing as the default recipient for every later communication.

How to check the result

Count assisted submissions requiring role clarification.