Healthcare should be a partnership, and that means making sure you’re always in the know. Introducing Patients Know Best (PKB), our free digital patient portal which provides you with access to parts of your personal health information from Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust (MSEFT) and Essex Partnership University Trust (EPUT).
PKB consolidates information from various healthcare providers and makes this available in a single, secure personal health record. Once fully launched, this portal will allow you to view upcoming appointment details, inpatient discharge summaries and test results. You can then securely share this information with people involved in your care.
To find out what information is being shared by each organisation, please visit their website:
Accessing PKB
The PKB web-based portal is free and easy to use from any digital device that can access the internet – a PC, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. PKB is also integrated with the NHS App, which makes it easy for you to access your health information whenever and from wherever you like.
Registering for PKB
If you have not used PKB before, you register and login to PKB using your NHS login. If you do not have an NHS login, you can create one here: https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/online-services/nhs-login/.
You need to be 16 years or older to register for a PKB account via the NHS App. The NHS App is a simple and secure way to access a range of NHS services on a smartphone or tablet and is available to all patients aged 13 and over who are registered with a GP practice in England.
Controlling access to your record
You have control over who can access your PKB record. If you wish to, you can securely share your PKB information digitally with those who are helping care for you, such as your GP, pharmacist, family members, carers, or anyone else that is supporting you. You can share your entire record, or just parts of it and you can change your mind and remove access at any time. Read more about this here: Sharing your record with a family member, friend, carer or professional
Making sure data is secure
PKB complies with all national standards for health data security. It also undergoes rigorous testing. It is also fully compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Only the minimum level of data necessary to verify you has been uploaded. All personal and health information stored is encrypted.
Further help
A PKB user manual is available here: https://manual.patientsknowbest.com/patient. This offers detailed guidance on a wide variety of topics and functionality. A link to this manual is conveniently located at the top of the PKB portal as well. Here are some shortcuts to guidance we think you may find useful:
- Using NHS Login to access PKB and viewing PKB via the NHS App
- Setting and resetting passwords
- Changing your email address associated with your PKB account
- Sharing your record with a family member, friend, carer or professional
- Email notifications
Find out more about our digital and technology work:
Digital, data and technology