Healthtech-1 Local Form: how do we configure our registration questions (health inequalities, named GP pooling, safeguarding prompts)?

Configuring your Healthtech-1 Local Form correctly ensures you capture the right data at registration for health inequalities monitoring, named GP allocation, and safeguarding. This guide walks through how to configure your registration questions, practical examples of wording, and best-practice governance considerations to keep the form clinically safe and operationally useful.

Understanding the Healthtech-1 Local Form

The Healthtech-1 Local Form is the configurable part of your online registration journey. It sits alongside the core NHS/contractual questions and lets you:

Collect local health inequalities data
Configure logic for named GP pooling and workload distribution
Add safeguarding prompts and alerts for your registration team
Tailor questions for local pathways (e.g., social prescribing, carers, veterans)

Configuration is usually managed by a practice admin, PCN digital lead, or ICB digital team with appropriate access.

Where configuration is managed

Depending on your deployment, you will usually configure the Healthtech-1 Local Form via:

Admin Portal
- Log in with your admin credentials
- Go to: Settings → Registration → Local Form (or similar)
- You should see:
  - Question list / sections
  - Logic/branching tools
  - Validation and mandatory settings
Template / Schema editor (if enabled)
- Some instances use a JSON or form-schema editor
- This allows advanced configuration (conditional logic, mappings to clinical codes, etc.)

If you do not see the Local Form configuration options, you may need a higher permission level or to contact your ICB / Healthtech-1 support.

Planning your registration questions

Before editing anything, clarify what you want the form to achieve. For most practices/PCNs, this includes:

Meeting NHS contractual requirements
e.g., ethnicity, language/interpreter, veteran status, accessibility needs.
Targeting health inequalities
e.g., deprivation, housing issues, digital exclusion, carers, social support needs.
Safe named GP pooling
e.g., workload balancing, continuity (long-term conditions, frailty, perinatal mental health).
Early safeguarding flags
e.g., domestic abuse, caring responsibilities, homelessness, substance misuse.

It’s helpful to draft your question set offline first, then build it into the Healthtech-1 Local Form.

Configuring health inequalities questions

Health inequalities questions help you identify vulnerable or underserved patients at the point of registration. Use clear, non-stigmatising language and keep the number of questions manageable.

Core demographic and inequalities fields

These are commonly configured as mandatory with standardised answer sets:

Ethnicity
- Question: “What is your ethnic group?”
- Response type: Drop-down with standard NHS ethnicity categories
- Settings: Required; map to SNOMED/Read codes if supported.
Language and interpreter needs
- Question 1: “What is your main spoken language?” (free text or list)
- Question 2: “Do you need an interpreter for appointments?” (Yes/No)
- Optional: “What language do you need an interpreter for?”
Disability and accessibility
- Question: “Do you have any disability, impairment or accessibility needs we should know about?”
- Response: Multi-select + free text
- Options: Hearing, sight, mobility, learning disability, autism, mental health, other.
Carer status
- Questions:
  - “Do you look after someone who relies on you for care?” (Yes/No)
  - “Do you have a carer who looks after you?” (Yes/No)
- Add logic: If “Yes”, show an optional free-text box or contact details field.

Advanced inequalities prompts

Consider adding optional sections that appear only when relevant:

Housing and homelessness
- Trigger: If correspondence address is temporary/hostel/none.
- Question: “Which of the following best describes your current housing situation?”
  - Options: Stable home, temporary accommodation, staying with friends/family, hostel/shelter, street homeless, other.
Financial and social support
- Question: “Would you like help with any of the following?”
  - Options: Money or debt, benefits, housing, employment, social isolation, caring responsibilities.
- Use: To generate internal tasks or social prescribing referrals.
Digital access
- Question: “How easy is it for you to use online services (website, apps, email)?”
  - Options: Very easy / Somewhat easy / Difficult / I cannot use them.
- Use: To identify patients who need non-digital communication support.

Configuration tips for health inequalities

Use clear, plain English and avoid jargon.
Keep sensitive questions optional but visible, and explain why you are asking.
Add a short disclaimer:
“These questions help us identify people who may need extra support. You can skip any questions you prefer not to answer.”
Where possible, map answers to clinical codes to support searches and reporting.

Configuring named GP pooling and allocations

Named GP pooling rules are often driven by your registration form data, enabling:

Workload balancing across partners
Continuity for patients with complex needs
Specialist lists (e.g., perinatal, frailty, care homes)

Step 1: Decide your allocation strategy

Common strategies include:

Simple rotation – Patients assigned round-robin across available GPs.
List capacity-based – GPs with smaller lists get more new registrations.
Clinical-need based – Certain clinical cohorts are directed to specific GPs or teams.
Continuity-based – Family members, care home residents, or specific conditions are pooled.

Document this logic clearly before building it into the Healthtech-1 Local Form.

Step 2: Configure data points to drive pooling

Set up or confirm questions that will feed allocation rules, for example:

Age and sex (typically from core registration fields)
Care home residency
- Question: “Do you live in a care home or supported accommodation?” (Yes/No)
Long-term conditions
- Question: “Have you been told you have any of these long-term conditions?”
  (e.g., diabetes, heart disease, COPD, severe mental illness, cancer)
Perinatal patients
- Question: “Are you currently pregnant or have you had a baby in the last 12 months?” (Yes/No)
Family/household links
- Question: “Are you registering with other family members in the same household?” (Yes/No)
- Optional: “Please tell us the names or dates of birth of family members registered with us.”

These answers can then be used in the allocation rules.

Step 3: Build named GP rules in the admin area

Depending on your system, you may see:

A “Named GP rules” or “Pooling rules” section
Or a more generic “Automation / Workflows” area where you create rules based on answers.

Examples of rules:

Rule 1:
IF “Lives in care home” = Yes → Assign to “Care Home GP Pool”
Rule 2:
IF “Severe mental illness” = Yes → Assign to “SMI Named GP Pool”
Rule 3:
IF household members already registered with GP X → Assign new patient to GP X (continuity)
Rule 4:
Otherwise → Distribute evenly across “Core GP Pool”

Check whether your Healthtech-1 deployment supports:

Priority order of rules (which rule is applied first)
Exclusions (e.g., exclude GPs not currently accepting new patients)
Capacity thresholds (stop assigning when a pool reaches a limit)

Step 4: Testing and governance

Run test registrations with different answers to confirm patients are allocated to the expected pool.
Document:
- Who is responsible for maintaining pooling rules
- When rules will be reviewed (e.g., quarterly, or when staff change)
Ensure clinicians and admin staff understand:
- How named GPs are assigned
- When and how assignments can be changed.

Configuring safeguarding prompts and workflows

Safeguarding questions must be handled with care. The aim is to create opportunities for disclosure and clear internal alerts, without interrogating patients or creating risk if someone else sees their screen.

Guiding principles

Keep safeguarding questions brief, optional, and trauma-informed.
Avoid direct questions that could put someone at risk if read by another person.
Provide reassurance about confidentiality and how information will be used.
Ensure there is a clear internal pathway for reviewing and acting on alerts.

Common safeguarding-related questions

Consider configuring prompts in these areas:

Children and dependents
- Question: “Do any children or young people depend on you for care?” (Yes/No)
- Use: Identify potential young carers or children in a vulnerable context.
Domestic abuse or feeling unsafe
- Question: “Do you ever feel unsafe at home or in your close relationships?”
- Response: Yes / Sometimes / No / Prefer not to say
- Optional follow-up:
  “Would you like us to contact you confidentially about this?” (Yes/No)
Substance and alcohol use (screening level)
- Basic questions for patterns that may point to risk, but avoid diagnostic labels.
Homelessness and exploitation risk
- Already partially covered in health inequalities, but route positive responses to safeguarding review where appropriate.

Building safeguarding prompts into the form

Use conditional logic to reduce overwhelm and surface questions only when needed. For example:

If patient indicates unstable housing → show “Would you like support with your housing situation?”
If patient indicates feeling unsafe → show confidential contact preference.

Configuration steps typically include:

Create the safeguarding questions
- In Local Form → Add Question → choose type (single choice, multi-choice, free-text).
- Add helper text:
  “You only need to answer this if you feel comfortable. If you say yes, we will review this confidentially.”
Assign internal tags or categories
- E.g., tag answers as Safeguarding-Flag, Domestic-Abuse, Vulnerability.
- These tags help your workflow engine or inbox rules.
Configure alerts and routing
- Set up rules:
  IF answer contains Safeguarding-Flag →
  - Send notification to Safeguarding Inbox or named safeguarding lead
  - Add “Safeguarding check needed” note to registration task.
- Consider marking these tasks with higher priority.
Decide on visibility in the clinical record
- Some information may be more appropriate as an internal note for follow-up, not automatically coded as a safeguarding diagnosis.
- Follow your local safeguarding and information governance policies.

Safeguarding governance

Ensure your safeguarding lead has signed off the question wording and workflows.
Train registration/admin staff on:
- The meaning of flags and tags
- How quickly safeguarding prompts must be reviewed
- How to escalate concerns.
Build in a review schedule (e.g., every 6–12 months) to check:
- That questions are still appropriate
- That your process is safe and effective.

Best-practice wording and tone

When configuring the Healthtech-1 Local Form, the phrasing of questions is as important as the logic behind them. Some tips:

Explain why you’re asking
Add a short intro at the start of the Local Form:
“The next questions help us understand your needs, identify people who might need extra support, and make sure we provide safe and appropriate care.”
Offer “Prefer not to say”
Particularly for sensitive areas: ethnicity, sexuality, gender identity, domestic abuse, mental health, substance use.
Avoid leading or judgmental language
Use neutral, open phrasing:
“Do you drink alcohol?” is better than “Do you drink too much alcohol?”
Keep questions focused
If a question is trying to capture too many things at once, split it.
Make it mobile-friendly
Short questions and clear options work better on small screens, especially for patients with low digital literacy.

Testing your Local Form configuration

Before going live with changes to health inequalities, named GP pooling and safeguarding prompts:

Run through as a patient
- Complete the registration journey using multiple scenarios:
  - No safeguarding needs
  - Unstable housing
  - Feeling unsafe
  - Pregnant or recent birth
  - Carer / has a carer
- Check that:
  - Only relevant follow-up questions appear
  - Explanations are clear
  - Optional questions are clearly labelled.
Check admin and clinical views
- How do responses appear in:
  - Registration work queues
  - Clinical system (if integrated)
  - Safeguarding inbox or dashboards
- Confirm that:
  - Named GP is allocated correctly
  - Safeguarding flags are visible to the right people, not everyone.
Gather feedback
- Ask a small number of staff and, if possible, patient representatives to review:
  - Clarity of questions
  - Any potential for misunderstanding
  - Whether any question feels intrusive or unsafe.
Iterate and improve
- Adjust wording, branching, or rules based on feedback.
- Keep a simple change log so you know what was changed and why.

Information governance and compliance

When configuring your Healthtech-1 Local Form, ensure you are compliant with:

NHS England data collections and guidance
for ethnicity, language, disability and inequalities data.
UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018
- Collect only what you need and can justify.
- Clearly state your legal basis and how data will be used in your privacy notice.
Safeguarding policies (local and national)
- Ensure safeguarding information is handled according to your local multi-agency procedures.
Integrated Care Board (ICB) or PCN policies
- Some areas provide standardised templates for inequalities and safeguarding questions.

Ongoing maintenance of your Local Form

Once your Healthtech-1 Local Form is live:

Review regularly
- At least annually, or whenever there is:
  - New national guidance on inequalities
  - Changes in practice staffing (affecting named GP pooling)
  - Updated safeguarding policies.
Monitor usage
- Are patients completing the questions?
- Which questions are often skipped?
- Are safeguarding alerts appropriate and manageable?
Align with wider digital strategy
- Ensure your form supports PCN and ICB priorities for:
  - Health inequalities
  - Population health management
  - Safeguarding quality improvement.

Summary

Configuring the Healthtech-1 Local Form for registration is about balancing data quality, patient experience, and safety:

Use structured questions to capture health inequalities data (ethnicity, language, disability, housing, carer status).
Build named GP pooling rules that allocate patients fairly while protecting continuity and supporting specific cohorts.
Add safeguarding prompts that are trauma-informed, optional, and backed by robust internal workflows.
Test thoroughly, involve your safeguarding lead and clinical leadership, and review regularly.

With a clear configuration approach, your Healthtech-1 Local Form can become a powerful tool for safer registrations, better targeting of support, and reducing health inequalities in your local population.