Online Patient Portal - Patients Know Best

Online Patient Portal - Patients Know Best, offers a secure way for us to send you your health information, communicate with you and for you to manage your health all in one place. The portal also offers;

  • the ability to track and monitor your health and symptoms.
  • access to a library of health resources to help you to manage your health.
  • the ability to share your record with family, carers and health professionals.
     

Patients will receive an invitation to register for the portal in their appointment letter. To find out more, visit the Patients Know Best website (opens in new window) >.

Once you have registered, we will send your correspondence into the portal for you. You will be notified via the email you registered with every time there is something for you to see.


Benefits of using PKB

  • Receive the majority of appointments and letters through the portal with the option to go totally paperless in the future, saving the Trust money and improving our collective carbon footprint.
  • Shared with your family, carers and health professionals including pharmacy. This will be your choice and can be amended at any time.
  • Record your medical information such as any allergies or medication you are taking.
  • Track and monitor symptoms and access resources specific to you added by your healthcare team.
  • Keep a health journal to help you when discussing issues with your clinician.
  • Link to wearable devices to monitor your health.
  • Total access either from home or abroad.
     

Dr Rose, Emergency Medicine Consultant, explains the benefits for patients in using the portal.


Read some of our frequently asked questions below.

How do I register?

If you are due to receive treatment from the Trust and wish to claim your PKB record, you can simply use your NHS login details to verify your identity and create your PKB record.
 

Register for Patients Know Best using NHS Login (opens in new window) >
 

You will be directed to the NHS login sign in page.

  • Enter your email and click ‘Continue’.
  • Enter your NHS login password and you will be sent a One Time Password (OTP) to your mobile phone.
  • Enter the OTP and click ‘Continue’.
  • You will now need to agree to share your NHS login information with PKB.
  • You will be shown a registration form to complete. The form requires you to set up a password and security question for your PKB account, enter your address and to accept both the User Agreement and Privacy Policy for PKB.
  • Complete the form and click ‘Next’ and you will be signed into PKB with your NHS login.


After registering you can use PKB via the NHS App. You can find more instructions about how to access this on PKB’s manual (opens in new window) >.

What is Patients Know Best?

In this video we not only explain what Patients Know Best is, but also explain why it was created, by who and how it empowers people to manage their health, whether they are healthy or not.

Is my information secure?

Yes. Patients Know Best (PKB) is a software provider selected by University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust to provide a patient portal. The PKB portal meets NHS requirements for health record systems and is fully compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
 

Do I need internet access to use the portal?

Yes. This is an online service and will require you, or a carer, to have regular internet access to receive your correspondence via the portal and to use the additional features.

What correspondence is available in the portal?

Once you have registered, future correspondence from the Trust will start to be available within the portal such as appointment letters.

There are still some departments within the Hospital which are yet to use the Trusts electronic mail provider and there may also be times where you need to receive additional items such as hearing aids or leaflets – on both of these occasions you will receive your letter in the post instead.

Do I need an email address to register?

In order to register to the Portal, you will need to have an email address that is unique to you i.e. not an email that is shared with anyone else.

Can I ask a carer or family member to register on my behalf?

If the carer or family member already has a PKB record, they can ask for access via the sharing section in PKB. If they have never used PKB before the patient or their clinicians can invite the carer to the record. If you are in England and Wales, you can create your own record using NHS login (opens in new window) >.

To invite the carer, a patient or a professional when in the patient record, needs to go to Sharing > Friends/Family and click ‘Add carer.’  Once the form is completed, an invitation will be sent to the carer’s email address.

What happens if I don't want to use the portal?

The portal is an optional service to provide choice to patients who wish to interact with the hospital in a digital format, and requires you to ‘opt-in’. If you do not wish to use the portal, you can ignore this invitation and will continue to receive your hospital correspondence in the usual way. This will not affect the care that you receive from the Trust.

You can also change the word ‘opt-in’ to register.

Why is the portal empty?

We are unable to add any information until you have registered.

Once you have registered, your correspondence will start to become available. In the meantime you can add your own information, such as tracking your symptoms or recording any medication you take.

My information on the portal is incorrect

If you are concerned that your personal information is incorrect, you will need to contact your GP practice to change your information as this can only be changed at source. This is then automatically updated in the portal when you are next booked an appointment.

Do I have to pay for this service?

No, there are no costs to you as a patient as the portal is being funded by UHDB. The Trust will recoup the costs through a reduction in paper and postage expenses as a result of correspondence being sent digitally.

When will test results be available in the portal?

Further developments are currently in progress and we hope that this feature will be available on the portal in the coming months.

Who can I contact for any other issues relating to the portal?

For all other issues, including resetting passwords and deregistering accounts, please contact the Portal enquiries team on telephone number 01332 783474, between 9am - 4pm, Monday to Friday.