Online Patient Portal - Patients Know Best

Patients Know Best (PKB) is UHDB’s free online patient portal which provides you with access to your personal health information and is designed to improve your patient experience.

After registering, your health information will be accessible via a website you can access from any device, and via the NHS App.

If you have been a patient at UHDB, you will receive an invitation to register directly from PKB via email, SMS text message, or posted letter.

If you have not received an invitation, but you have been a patient recently, you can register via the link below, or via the link on your most recent postal correspondence.


Benefits of PKB

The benefits of PKB include: 

  • Accessing your appointment information digitally; including outpatient and inpatient appointment letters and notifications.
  • Accessing other types of letters including appointment booking letter invites, referral acknowledgements, and other clinic letters.
  • Accessing the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) via secure messaging.
  • Viewing your medical information which will include emergency department, inpatient and outpatient visits.
  • Sharing your records with your family, carers and health professionals, including pharmacy. This will be your choice and can be amended at any time.
  • Recording your medical information such as allergies, medication and diagnosis information.
  • Tracking information relating to devices you are using such as fit bits.
  • Tracking and monitoring symptoms and accessing library resources added by your healthcare team.
  • Recording your health information in your own health journal.

 

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

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. PKB is a software provider / data processor and host selected by University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust to provide a patient portal. The 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 >. 

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?

That’s fine - the portal is totally optional and you can opt-out at any time. You wont receive any further invites to join PKB.

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 any of your information on the portal is not accurate, please contact your current care team who will be able to help you.

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 closing your account, please contact the Portal Enquiries team on 01332 783474, between 9am - 4pm, Monday to Friday.