The planning meeting where the file is incomplete
The team meets to plan the next group of starts. For one patient, the partner's screening results are not on file. For another, a result arrived but it is older than your protocol allows. A third patient had tests done privately and emailed the PDF to a nurse, who is on leave. Somebody makes a note to chase, and the start date slides.
Pre-treatment paperwork is not complicated in itself. What makes it hard is that it comes from many places, applies to two people, and goes out of date.
Why results go missing
- Results come from your own lab, external labs, GP practices and previous clinics, each by a different route.
- Both partners, and sometimes donors, need results on file.
- Results have validity periods under your protocol, so a complete file can become incomplete later.
- Patients send results to individual staff by email.
- The only full check happens at a planning meeting or pre-treatment appointment.
There is also a timing trap. A file that was complete at the first consultation can become incomplete by the time treatment is planned, simply because a result has passed the validity period your protocol sets. Paper checklists record that something was received, not that it is still in date on the day it matters.
The cost of finding gaps late
Late-found gaps delay starts, which upsets patients and disrupts the clinic's schedule. Nurses and admin spend time chasing at the last minute, when it is hardest. Results filed under the wrong patient, or not filed at all, create extra work when they are needed again.
| Item | Tracked on paper | Tracked per patient |
|---|---|---|
| Required results | Checklist in the notes | Listed from your protocol for each person |
| Where a result came from | Often unknown | Source recorded when filed |
| Validity | Checked by eye at planning | Expiry calculated and flagged ahead |
| Outstanding items | Found at the meeting | Listed weeks before the planned start |
| Chasing | Ad hoc emails | Scheduled requests to patients, GPs or labs |
What we build
- Your clinical lead sets out, in the tracker, which documents your protocol requires for each pathway and for partners and donors, with the validity period your policy sets for each.
- When a patient's pathway is recorded, their list of required items is created automatically.
- Results arriving by email are read by an inbox parser that identifies the patient and document type and proposes where to file it. A person confirms.
- Results from your own lab system can be linked automatically where it offers an export or interface.
- The tracker shows each patient due to start with what is complete, missing or about to expire before the start.
- Outstanding items trigger requests: to the patient with an upload link, or to a GP practice or lab with a standard letter.
The tracker records whether a document is on file and in date. It does not read or interpret results. Reviewing results remains the job of your clinical staff.
A quieter planning meeting
The planning meeting starts with a list of starts that are ready and a short list of those still missing items, with chasing already under way. Patients upload results to a secure link rather than emailing staff. Nurses no longer discover expired results at the last moment.
Admin staff benefit too. Instead of searching email for a PDF a patient says they sent, they can see what arrived, when, from whom and where it was filed. When a GP practice or outside lab is slow to respond, the chasing history is on the record, so the next person to pick it up does not start again from scratch.
Does this happen at your clinic?
- Starts are delayed because a result is missing or out of date.
- Patients email results to individual staff.
- Partner results are the ones most often missing.
- Expiry dates are checked by eye.
- Chasing external labs and GPs is done at short notice.