A box of record cards and a diary in pencil
A local chiropodist is retiring after decades in practice. They have agreed that your clinic will take on their patients, many of them older regulars seen every six to eight weeks, some at home. The records are paper cards in a filing box, or an old system nobody else uses. The diary is in pencil.
The patients are loyal to their podiatrist and anxious about the change. If the first contact from your clinic is late or confusing, some will simply stop coming, and some of them are people who should not go without care.
Why taking over a list is harder than it looks
- Records are on paper or in an old system with no straightforward export.
- The retiring practitioner's recall intervals are in their head or pencilled in the diary.
- Home visit patients need to be fitted into your rounds.
- Patients need to be told what is happening, in a way that reassures them.
- Data protection questions about transferring records need answering before anything moves.
- Your team is already busy and cannot absorb a sudden surge of first appointments.
What a messy handover costs
Patients who drift away in the gap, which undermines what your clinic took on. Home visit patients missed. Reception flooded with calls from confused patients. Records typed in a rush with errors. And a first impression of your clinic that does not match the care you give.
| Handover task | Risk | What we build |
|---|---|---|
| Records | Paper or old system | Scanned and indexed, or imported, into your system |
| Recall dates | Lost | Captured per patient and loaded into recall |
| Patient letters | Late or generic | Personal welcome letter with a first date offered |
| Home visit patients | Not fitted into rounds | Placed by area into your round planning |
| First appointments | A surge the team cannot absorb | Spread by due date |
How we build the handover
- We agree with you what information will move and on what basis. The arrangements for transferring records, and what patients are told, are decided with your own data protection adviser, and we build to that decision.
- Paper records are scanned and indexed by patient, with key details such as name, address, date of birth, GP and recall interval typed into your clinic system. Old system records are exported and imported where possible.
- Each patient's next due date is worked out from their last visit and the retiring practitioner's usual interval, then checked by one of your podiatrists before anything is sent.
- A welcome letter goes to each patient, in plain words, introducing your clinic, saying who will look after them, and offering a first appointment near their due date, with a phone number and a reply option.
- Home visit patients are placed into your rounds by area and due date.
- Replies, bookings and patients who decline are tracked, and anyone who has not responded is on a call list.
- The full scanned record is attached to each patient in your system so your podiatrist can read it before the first visit.
What the transition looks like
Patients receive a clear, reassuring letter with a date before they start to worry. Your podiatrists have the history in front of them at the first visit. Home visit patients are seen on time. The surge of new patients is spread out by due date. And your clinic can see how many of the inherited patients have made the move.
Are you about to take on a list?
- A local practitioner is retiring and you are taking their patients.
- Their records are on paper or in a system you do not use.
- Many of the patients are elderly regulars or housebound.
- You are unsure how to spread first appointments across your team.
- You want to be sure the transfer is handled properly before anything moves.