Manage health services for others in the NHS App (proxy access)

Help people registered at your practice manage GP health services for the children and adults they care for.

Taking part in the proxy application service pilot?

Follow the guidance from the National Proxy Service instead.

If you are a family member or carer looking for information about how to support someone you care for using the app, go to NHS App help. This page is for GP practice staff, including receptionists, practice managers, and clinicians.

What a family member or carer can and cannot do in the NHS App

Family members or carers can support an adult or child they care for using the NHS App. This is often called proxy access. Family members or carers access this through Manage health services for others in their profile in the NHS App.

GP practices decide which app features a family member or carer can access on behalf of the person they care for. NHS App help explain what family members or carers can do and includes a video that shows you how it works in the app.

GP practices can grant access to:

book appointments
order repeat prescriptions
view some or all of the health information that's held in your GP IT system

Not all NHS App services are available to a family member or carer. For example, they cannot:

manage hospital services such as outpatient appointments or specialist referrals
change the nominated pharmacy
send or view messages from the profile of the person they care for

The family member or carer and the person they care for must both be registered at the same GP practice.

There are no limits to the number of:

people a family member or carer can support using the app
family members or carers who can access the profile of someone they care for in the app

The proxy roadmap explains what work is in progress to improve and expand proxy access.

What GP practices need to do to grant proxy access

When a family member or carer wants to support someone they care for using the app, they must submit an application to their GP practice.

The GP practice then assess the application to understand if access is appropriate. If access is appropriate, they must then get the patient’s informed consent.

The National proxy service has more information and guidance about assessing and approving a proxy application.

After the application assessment and consent steps are complete, the GP practice sets up access in their GP IT system. The GP practice does this by:

Linking the 2 profiles together
Choosing which services the family member or carer can access

After the GP practice sets up access, a family member or carer can support someone they care for using the app.

Benefits for staff and patients

Practice staff receive fewer phone calls and unplanned visits as family members or carers can support the person they care for through the NHS App

Family members or carers can manage the healthcare for those they care for at a time that’s convenient for them
People who are unable to use the NHS App themselves can still benefit from it through their family member or carer

Safeguarding considerations when reviewing proxy access

Proxy access could put some vulnerable patients at risk. It is important to balance the benefits of proxy access with the risks for vulnerable patients.

Proxy access: advice and guidance explains how to evaluate the safety of proxy access.

There are additional safeguarding considerations for young people and children. Proxy access should be reviewed when a child reaches:

an age between 11 and 13
16

If proxy access is not reviewed before these age milestones, the family member or carer may automatically lose access in the NHS App.

Read our guidance for more information on age and development based reviews of access.

How GP practices set up proxy access

To set up proxy access you need to:

Link together the profiles of the family member or carer and the person they care for. patient’s accounts together
Choose which services the family member or carer can access

All proxy access should have a time limit. After you have set up access for a family member or carer, make sure reminders are set for regular reviews.

Proxy access: advice and guidance has more information about scenarios that should trigger a review of the family member or carers access. This includes age and development based reviews of access.

TPP SystmOne

Check the start date of the patient’s online record access matches what was agreed in the conversation with the patient. If it does not match, change the date where needed. Only 1 start date can be used for both the patient and family member or carers access. The patient will be unable to view any information recorded before this date.
Search the name of the family member or carer who will be granted proxy access. Under their Online Services, select Allow access to another patient’s account.
Then, search for the name of the patient the family member or carer want to support. Select the patient’s name.
Select the services the family member or carer will have access to including whether they have coded or full record access.
Select the relationship the family member or carer has to the patient.
Select the basis for granting access. You can also add more information to explain the method you used to get the patient’s informed consent.
Choose whether to inform patient that their family member or carer has access.
Set a reminder to review the family member or carers access. Proxy access: advice and guidance has more information about setting access expiry dates and when to regularly review access.
The family member or carer will now be able to support the person they care for using the NHS App.

Emis Web

Search for the name of the patient the family member or carer want to support.
Navigate to Online services and add a new online user. Then Add proxy user.
Then, in the Online user trace box, search for the name of the family member or carer. If they do not appear in the search results you need to register them for online access.
Select the correct user and link the accounts together, making sure to complete the ID verification where necessary.
Select the relationship the family member or carer has to the patient.
Select the services the family member or carer will have access to.
Select the legal basis for granting access. You can also add more information to explain the method you used to get the patient’s informed consent.
Tell the family member or carer that access is granted. If appropriate, tell the patient that access has been granted.
Set a reminder to review the family member or carers access. Proxy access: advice and guidance has more information about setting access expiry dates and when to regularly review access.
The family member or carer will now be able to support the person they care for using the NHS App.

Common issues with proxy access and the NHS App that you can fix in your GP IT system

Most problems that family members or carers encounter in the NHS App can be fixed at your practice in your GP IT system settings.

If you do not have the right permissions to change the settings, speak to someone in your GP practice who does.

Family member or carer cannot see all services

What to check first

Before you update your GP IT system settings, check that the problem is not caused by one of these questions.

Are there any safeguarding concerns that mean the family member or carer has limited or no access? If there are safeguarding concerns, work with your safeguarding lead or follow your practice's standard processes to address this problem.
Has the patient given consent or has the family member or carer been approved to manage their health services? If consent or approval is missing, work with your safeguarding lead or follow your practice's standard processes to address this problem.

Update your GP IT system settings

If you have completed the first set of checks and that has not given you an answer, then you need to update your GP IT system settings.

In your GP IT system:

search for the family member or carer’s name to check their permissions
confirm which services are enabled
update permissions to include missing services
save changes and ask the family member or carer to log out and back into the NHS App

Why this happens

You have linked the accounts together but have not selected all the services for the family member or carer to see. Permissions are set individually for each service.

Linked profile not showing in NHS App

What to check first

Before you update your GP IT system settings, check that the problem is not caused by one of these questions.

Are there any safeguarding concerns that mean the family member or carer has limited or no access? If there are safeguarding concerns, work with your safeguarding lead or follow your practice's standard processes to address this problem.
Has the patient given consent or has the family member or carer been approved to manage their health services? If consent or approval is missing, work with your safeguarding lead or follow your practice's standard processes to address this problem.

Update your GP IT system settings

If you have completed the first set of checks and that has not given you an answer, then you need to update your GP IT system settings.

In your GP IT system:

confirm the patient and their family member or carer are registered at your practice
check you have linked the patient’s profile and the family member or carer’s profile together and that you have saved the link correctly
ask the family member or carer to log out and back into the NHS App

If the patient’s profile is still not showing in the family member or carer’s app, remove the link and create it again

Why this happens

You have not completed the linking process in your GP IT system, or the link was not saved correctly.

Family member or carer cannot see the full health record

What to check first

Before you update your GP IT system settings, check that the problem is not caused by one of these questions.

Are there any safeguarding concerns that mean the family member or carer has limited or no access? If there are safeguarding concerns, work with your safeguarding lead or follow your practice's standard processes to address this problem.
Has the patient given consent or has the family member or carer been approved to manage their health services? If consent or approval is missing, work with your safeguarding lead or follow your practice's standard processes to address this problem.

Update your GP IT system settings

If you have completed the first set of checks and that has not given you an answer, then you need to update your GP IT system settings.

In your GP IT system:

go to the family member or carer's profile and look at their permissions
check if they should have access to the full health record
check if historic record access is enabled
enable both if appropriate for this patient
save changes and ask the family member or carer user to log out and back into the NHS App

Why this happens

The family member or carer only has access to summary information. You must enable detailed care record and historic access separately.

When to escalate issues with proxy access

If you have checked all the relevant settings in your GP IT system and followed the guidance on this page but the problem is not resolved, follow these steps.

First, check any guidance from your GP IT system supplier to make sure that the settings that should be turned on are turned on.
If the problem persists, contact your system supplier (EMIS, TPP or Medicus) as they can help you with configuration issues.
Finally, if your system supplier confirms settings are correct, gather relevant evidence of the problem, like screenshots, and contact NHS App support.

Escalate to NHS App support immediately if:

the family member, carer or patient can see information that does not belong to either of them
the issue affects multiple patients
you are seeing error messages you do not recognise

Trial: Apply in the NHS App

Some practices are trialling a new service. The Proxy application service allows patients to apply for proxy access directly in the NHS App. If your practice is part of the trial, you will see applications in your system. You still need to approve them and set permissions.

Help patients learn more about how to manage health services for others

There is help and support available for patients.

NHS App help contains information and guidance about managing health services for others. The page includes a useful walkthrough video that shows what patients can see and do in that section of the app.

Last edited: 6 May 2026 12:37 pm