Outpatient letter
Standards for digital outpatient letters allow clinical information to be recorded, exchanged and accessed consistently across care settings. Best practice for most outpatient letters is writing directly to patients.
About this standard
- Owner
- Professional Record Standards Body
- Status
- Active
Show definitions of statuses
Active standards are stable, maintained and have been assured or endorsed for use by qualified bodies.
Standards in development are APIs or API standards in alpha or beta, meaning they are available for use but are still in progress and may change.
Deprecated standards are older versions of a standard which are being phased out.
Retired standards are not being maintained and should not be used.
- Standard type
- Record standards
Show definitions of standard types
Record standards define what information to collect and how to format it, for example when registering a new patient.
Data definitions and terminologies define the format of individual data items so they can be consistently represented, for example dates or medication names. Reference sets and controlled lists are also included.
Technical standards and specifications specify how to make information available technically including how the data is structured and transported.
Information codes of practice are legal or best practice guidelines on how information should be handled.
- Contact details
- support@theprsb.org
Link to standard
- Documentation
- View documentation for this standardopens in a new tab
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Topics and care settings
- Topic
- Referrals
- Demographics
- Key care information
- Prescribing
- Patient communication
- Information governance
- Tests and diagnostics
- Care setting
- Community health
- Hospital
- Mental health
- GP / Primary care
Dependencies and related standards
- Dependencies
This standard needs to be reviewed and implemented alongside SNOMED CT, FHIR and electronic systems both ends.
- Related standards
This standard relates to the group of standards by the PRSB known as the transfers of care standards.
Assurance and endorsements
- Reference code for standards issued as requirements in England
- None - not legally mandated
- Quality assurance
- Not applicable
- Endorsements
This standard has been endorsed by the following organisations:
- Royal College of General Practitioners
- Royal College of Midwives
- Royal College of Nursing
- Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
- Royal College of Occupational Therapists
- Royal Pharmaceutical Society
- Royal College of Physicians
- Royal College of Psychiatrists
- Royal College of Radiologists (Faculty of Clinical Oncology)
- British Psychological Society
- Resuscitation Council UK
- Chartered Society of Physiotherapy
- Institute of Health Records and Information Managers (IHRIM)
- TechUK
Page last updated: 16 January 2023