Proxy Access

How proxy access works

Proxy access was developed to allow someone other than the patient to access and manage parts of their GP online services account. The proxy is given their own online access account (rather than using the patient’s login details). It is typically used by the parents of young children and recognised carers of adults.

GP practices can set up proxy access to repeat medications only, meaning that care home staff can’t see anything else in the record. If, however, a resident does not want care home staff to have proxy access to any part of their record, including repeat medication, the care home must continue using a paper-based process.

When staff in the care home are given proxy access by the GP practice, they can:

• order repeat prescriptions
• include a note to the GP.

Adding a note to the GP practice may be particularly useful when an item is marked on the GP system as needing to be reviewed with the patient. Overdue medication reviews may cause delays when a care home proxy access process is first put in place but becomes less of an issue over time

Audit Trails

An audit trail is kept in the GP system when a proxy accesses a patient’s record. For repeat prescriptions It records:

• who accessed the record and when
• what medication was ordered
• who authorised or rejected the request and when.

Protecting patient privacy

It is essential that resident/patient privacy is respected and protected. To reduce the risk of a breach of privacy or confidentiality there must it is important that:

• a data sharing agreement between the care home and the GP practice has been agreed
• all authorised care home staff are up to date with information governance (IG) training and IG requirements
• a process is in place to manage any breach of confidentiality or misuse of proxy access.

The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) has developed guidance for GP online services. There is a section on proxy access issues and the safeguards that might be helpful.

Other things you can do with GP online services

As well as ordering medication, GP online services can give access to a resident/patient’s medical record, test results, hospital and other correspondence, and appointment booking/cancelling.



A carer’s access to these other elements can have benefits for patients, such as better communication between different care providers. There are, however, security and confidentiality risks that need to be considered from a patient, GP, and care home point of view before any level of proxy access is set up. These are discussed in the RCGP guidance section on proxy access issues and safeguards.