Professional Patient

Patients > Frequently Asked Questions

Access & Visibility

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Health or social care professionals involved in your care can view your care plan, and depending on their role, they may be able to create or update it. Contact us for more details.

You can start your care plan via the NHS Login Service (NHS App or online login). 

Go to ‘care plans’ from your profile screen and select ‘manage your Universal Care Plan’.  

Log into the NHS App and go to ‘Care plans’. Select ‘Manage your Universal Care Plan’ to view your information. 

You can update personal details by selecting the relevant section and clicking ‘Edit’. Some clinical information will be view-only.

For more information, please go to How to Access your UCP. 

Your UCP will still be viewable to any London healthcare professionals that you receive care from, for example if you are continuing treatment at a hospital in London, or if you access urgent care services in London.  

You will no longer be able to view or add information to your care plan via the NHS login service.  

If you would like your new GP outside of London to be able to see your UCP, you should ask your GP in London to print a copy. If you wish for your UCP to be withdrawn, you can ask your GP in London to do this. When your plan is withdrawn, it won’t be visible to anyone who treats you. 

Information Governance & Security

We ensure the information we hold is kept in secure locations with access restricted to authorised staff only. All staff are obliged to keep the information secure and confidential and not share it with other colleagues without proper authorisation. 

The NHS Digital Code of Practice on Confidential Information applies to all our staff, and they are required to protect your information, inform you of how your information will be used, and allow you to decide if and how your information can be shared. All staff with access to personal data are trained to ensure information is always kept confidential. Our Universal Care Plan System Privacy Notice sets out our technical and security measures. 

Speak to your healthcare professional if you don’t want a plan created or shared.

Without a plan: 

  • You may need to repeat information  
  • Care decisions may take longer  
  • Your wishes may not be known in emergencies 

Consent to the creation of a UCP care plan is always encouraged and advised. In the vast majority of cases, your healthcare professional will discuss creating a care plan with you, before creating your care plan. 

In a small number of cases where it may be in your best interest to have a care plan e.g. if you lack capacity to make care planning decisions that may benefit your health, a care plan may be created on your behalf with an attorney, a loved one or by your clinician. Please do contact us to discuss this further as required. 

There are strict standards and legislation supporting this as highlighted below. 

Section 30 and 31 – Using and disclosing patient information for direct care – professional standards – GMC 

Legal and professional requirements – NHS Englad Consent to using and sharing patient information 

Exceptions – Section 10: Using health and social care information – direct care and indirect care – NHS Digital 

If a person with a UCP has died, their UCP will automatically update to show that the patient is deceased. The care plan will no longer be flagged to the urgent care services, however the care plan remains on the UCP system.

If preferred, the patient’s next of kin or lasting power of attorney can request for the record to be withdrawn from the system. In this case, the record of the deceased citizen is therefore stored and subsequently destroyed in line with the NHS data retention policy.

Withdrawing a care plan can be completed by a healthcare professional who has been involved in the patient’s care. Please speak to a healthcare professional for more information.