The PPR | Registering using ePractice

The PPR

Set up your profile using ePractice

The PPR (Private Practice Register) gives an efficient and secure way to store, manage and share practising information and documents.

Setting up is the starting point for your PPR journey and to do this you’ll need to complete all the mandatory fields of every section. As you can work your way through, saving as you go along, it’s worth taking the extra time to add all the information. At various points you’ll need to upload documents so make sure you have them available on your computer. Don’t stop there – after completing your profile set up you should remember to regularly check and update it.

Before you start

Here’s a list of what you’ll need – anything mandatory is marked with an asterisk *. Uploaded files mustn’t be bigger than 5MB and must be in one of these formats: PDF, PNG, JPG or GIF.

• A photograph of you – a formal head shot is suggested
• An NHS written reference* confirming details of your employment for the following professions:
  • Anaesthetist
  • Audiologist
  • Healthcare Science Practitioner
  • Neuropsychologist
  • Ophthalmic Science Practitioner
  • Orthotist
  • Pathologist
  • Physician
  • Practitioner Podiatric Surgeon
  • Psychiatrist
  • Radiologist
  • Surgeon
  Don’t worry If you don’t have a suitable reference you can download our digital template – just complete and save it on your computer before you begin; if you’ve gained your experience with the military, you can submit your Armed Service Vocational/Aptitude Battery certification*
• Details are required if you’ve ever had practising privileges withdrawn*
• Details are required If you’ve ever been subject to investigations or proceedings by the police or a professional body*
• The certificates of any medical/clinical training you have undertaken*
• Your current Disclosure and Barring Service certificate.
• Your current Medical Indemnity Insurance certificate*.

Getting started

As you’re completing details you’ll notice that capital letters will change to lower case automatically e.g. Staines-upon-Thames becomes Staines-upon-thames or a surname Cooper-Smith, becomes Cooper-smith. This is because the title case option is turned on by default. On the top right of the screen, underneath the Quick Menu, you’ll see the message Title Case On. You can turn this off by clicking it and the message will change to title case off. Simply toggle between the two options as required.

Log in to your ePractice site and click on the PPR Profile tab from the left-hand menu. A pop-up will appear – click on View and Complete your profile then tick the box and click Continue.

You’ll have to complete the Demographic, Contact Details & Other Items and the Profile tab sections first. After that, you can complete them in any order you like (although this guide covers all sections in the order they appear on screen) – just make sure each segment is completed in full to save it by clicking Save Profile in the bottom right of the screen. You won’t be able to save If you haven’t fully completed a section – a handy pop-up will tell you what’s missing.

Demographic, Contact Details & Other Items

This section appears above the tabs and is all about you plus where and how you want to be contacted.

Demographic

This will already have some of your details – you just need to review and complete/change as required. Please note that your listed names should be your legal names – those recognised by a government or other legal entity. All mandatory fields are marked with an asterisk*.

• Title*
• First Name*
• Middle name
• Last Name*
• Preferred Name: Your preferred name e.g. an anglicised name, nickname or a shorter version of your first name
• Select Gender*
• Date of birth*: You can either search using the calendar or just type it in

Contact Details

This section holds the details of where you would like to be contacted for correspondence and invoicing purposes. All mandatory fields are marked with an asterisk*.

Correspondence address

Click the Correspondence tab if this isn’t already selected.

These details can be used by us, the insurers who recognise you and the hospitals where you hold practising privileges to send you general correspondence, including emails about the products and services you use. Mandatory fields are marked with an asterisk*.

You have two choices for the address – choose a hospital or practice (where you undertake some, or all, of your private practice) or simply type in another address.

Choose a hospital or practice

Click the box next to Use a Hospital/Practice address – a tick will appear.

• Use Hospital/Practice Address*: Use the drop-down list to select this
• Address Prefix: Any additional address information that’s specific to the location within the hospital/practice e.g. the business name, location within a building (floor and/or room number) etc

Add a correspondence address

Just type in the details.

• Address Prefix: Any additional address information that’s specific to the location e.g. the business name, location within a building (floor and/or room number) etc
• Address (Lines 1-4)*: Lines 1-4 of the correspondence address you want to use e.g. building name, street number and/or name, city and county as required
• Postcode*: The postcode of your correspondence address

Additional contact details

These must also be completed. It would be best if you list your personal details in this section, rather than another person’s.

• Primary Telecom: The preferred method of contacting you from a choice of email, phone, mobile or fax
• Email*: Your personal email address
• Phone*: Your direct phone number (landline or mobile) at your correspondence address
• Mobile: Your mobile number
• Fax: Your fax number at your correspondence address

Billing address

Click the Billing tab.

This is to let us know what address you want to use for invoicing purposes. This should be where you send the majority of your invoices from and where you’d like to receive your remittance advices (if this isn’t done electronically). Please note that the insurers may give this address to patients with shortfalls to pay. Mandatory fields are marked with an asterisk*.

You have three choices for the address this time – you can use your correspondence address, choose a hospital or practice or add another address.

Use correspondence address

Simply click on the Copy Corr. address button. You can add another Address Prefix if needed.

Choose a hospital or practice

Click the box next to Use a Hospital/Practice address – a tick will appear.

• Use Hospital/Practice Address*: Use the drop-down list to select this
• Address Prefix: Any additional address information that’s specific to the location within the hospital/practice e.g. the business name, location within a building (floor and/or room number) etc

Add a billing address

Just type in the details.

• Address Prefix: Any additional address information that’s specific to the location e.g. the business name, location within a building (floor and/or room number) etc
• Address (Lines 1-4)*: Lines 1-4 of the correspondence address you want to use e.g. building name, street number and/or name, city and county as required
• Postcode*: The postcode of your correspondence address

Additional contact details

You could use another person’s details here e.g. your secretary or the person who does your invoicing. Just remember to update these if that person leaves your employment. If you’re using your correspondence address the details for these fields will be pre-populated, but you can change them if you want.

• Email*: The email address you want to associate with this address
• Phone*: A direct phone number (landline or mobile) you want to associate with this address
• Mobile: The mobile number you want to associate with this address
• Fax: The fax number you want to associate with this address

Other Items

• Add Profile Photo: This is found in the top right-hand corner – upload your photo, which will be shown in your profile
• Practice Name: This could be your personal name, your company name or your clinic name
• Practice Website: Your professional personal website or the website of the place where you practise – if you practise from more than one site use the one most relevant to you
• Status: You can use this section in future to let everyone know if your status has changed – there are three options:
  • Active: You’re actively practising privately – this should already be selected
  • Inactive: You’re currently not seeing any private patients
  • Retired: You’ve retired, either completely or from private practice

Profile tab

This is split into four sections:

• Professional Details
• Professional Bodies
• Biography
• Research Interests

Professional Details

This is where you add details about your profession (e.g. surgeon, physician, therapist, chiropractor etc.), your specialty (-ies) and sub-specialty (-ies).  If you have more than one profession just add them all. The first one entered will be marked as your primary but you can click the relevant radio button to change this. You can also list the procedures/treatments you perform which could help with referrals from the insurance companies. All mandatory fields are marked with an asterisk*.

If you’re GMC-registered your registration number and the date registered will automatically be populated (from the GMC database).

There are four fields to complete.

• Profession*: Your overarching medical occupation – remember, you can have more than one
• Regulatory/professional body*: You’ll be given a choice of relevant regulatory/professional bodies (using their acronyms) to choose from depending on your profession –if yours isn’t listed you should contact us
• Reference*: This is your registration/reference/membership number with the listed regulatory/professional body – if you’re registered with the GMC the registration date will automatically populate from the GMC database when you type in your reference number
• Registration date*: The date you first registered with the regulatory/professional body

Click Add to save – you can add another one now if you need to.

You now need to add at least one specialty and sub-specialty (if prompted by the system) from the available lists for each of your professions. You can add as large a list as you like of the procedures and treatments you undertake for each specialty or sub-specialty – this highlights your areas of expertise.

Click Add Specialties.

• Specialty*: The branch of medical practice you’re trained to do – this is broadly focused on a defined group of patients, diseases or skills
• Sub-specialty* (if available for your specialty): A narrower field within the specialty that gives greater detail of the work you do
• Procedures/Treatments: A list of the procedures and treatments you do for each speciality/sub-specialty – these use CCSD codes and descriptions

This step will have taken you to the Specialties & Qualifications tab. Click back on the Profile tab to complete it.

Professional bodies

If you’re a member of any other professional bodies you can add the details here.

• Professional Body: Select from the drop-down list
• Membership No.: This is your registration/reference/membership number with the professional body

Biography

This is an optional space to give a bit more information about you, including your medical experience and expertise in your chosen field. This may be used in public-facing website and could help drive referrals your way.

Click Add Biography and add the information – you have 1,000 characters.

Research Interests

This is an optional space to list any research projects and/or activities you’ve been involved in.

Click Add Research Interests – you have 10,000 characters.

You’ve now completed this section and can click Save Profile in the bottom left-hand side of the screen (you may need to scroll down a bit to see this).

NHS Practice tab

You’ll need to complete this section if you are one of the following:

• Anaesthetist
• Audiologist
• Healthcare Science Practitioner
• Neuropsychologist
• Ophthalmic Science Practitioner
• Orthotist
• Pathologist
• Physician
• Practitioner Podiatric Surgeon
• Psychiatrist
• Radiologist
• Surgeon

A written reference is required confirming details of your NHS employment. If you don’t have anything suitable you can download our digital template to be completed by you and a member of the HR Department at your NHS facility.

The contact details requested are for the person who has provided the reference confirming your NHS employment, whether you used our template or not. Please note that the insurers may contact them if they need more information to complete their recognition process.

All mandatory fields are marked with an asterisk*.

• NHS post declaration*: You need to confirm whether or not you currently hold or have ever held an NHS post
• Hospital/ Practice Name*: The NHS facility where you are or were employed – if this isn’t shown on the drop-down list click “Other” (at the bottom of the list) and manually add the details
• Start Date*: The date you started practising at the NHS facility
• End Date: The date you stopped practising there (if applicable)
• Consultant Post*: The job title of the post you hold/held there
• Title*: The title of the person who has provided the reference
• First Name*: The first name of the person who has provided the reference
• Last Name*: The surname/family name of the person who has provided the reference
• Contact Other Names: Any other name(s) used by the person who has provided the reference
• Contact Job Title*: The official job title of the person who has provided the reference
• Contact Email*: The email address of the person who has provided the reference
• Upload Reference*: You upload your reference here – it must be signed by the same person you have listed as the reference contact

You’ve now completed this section and can click Save Profile in the bottom left-hand side of the screen.

Private Practice tab

This is all about what you do and where – you should add all the locations where you do your private work. If the location doesn’t appear in the drop-down list, click on Other at the bottom of the list and complete the details. As a minimum, you’ll need to give us the name, the town/city where it’s located and the postcode, together with an indication of whether this is a private consulting room, rather than being in a hospital or clinic.

The following information is required for each site and mandatory fields are marked with an asterisk*.

• Hospital/ Practice Name*: This is the recognised private facility where patients are seen and/or treated – if you can’t find it check the list carefully as it may be shown in a different format than you’re looking for
• Start Date*: The date you started seeing patients at this site
• End Date: N/A – this will be used in the future if and when you stop seeing patients at this site
• Patients Treated*: The age group breakdown for the patients you treat at this site based on the CQC’s service users’ bands – from the drop-down menu tick all that apply at this site:
  • 0-3 Years
  • 4-12 Years
  • 13-18 Years
  • 19-64
  • 65 Years and over
• Type of Care provided*: Tick all that apply at this site
  • Daypatient – patients who are admitted to a hospital or day case unit because they need a period of medically supervised recovery in a bed but don’t stay overnight
  • Inpatient – patients who are admitted to a hospital because they need a period of medically supervised recovery in a bed and need to stay overnight or longer
  • Outpatient (Consulting only) – patients who attend a facility to see you for medical advice
  • Outpatient Treatment (Ambulatory) – patients who attend a facility for medical diagnostics, observations and treatments but don’t require medically supervised recovery in a bed
• Medical Secretary: When you’ve added details of your medical secretary (-ies) in the Medical Secretary section their name(s) will be shown in the drop-down list and you can assign them to managing this treatment site
• Contact Type: The contact details (correspondence or billing) you want to use for this site
• Address Prefix: Any additional correspondence or billing address information that’s specific to the location of your private practice e.g. the business name, location within a building (floor and/or room number) etc.
• Email*: The contact email address associated with your private practice at this site (this could be your medical secretary’s)
• Phone*: The contact number associated with your private practice at this site – landline or mobile
• Fax: The fax number associated with your private practice at this site
• Practice Hours*: The sessions (morning, afternoon or evening – use the tick boxes) and frequencies (weekly, fortnightly or monthly – use the drop-down options) that you’re available per day (Sunday to Saturday) to see and/or treat patients at this site

Click Add to save the details and repeat for any other sites where you practise.

You’ve now completed this section and can click Save Profile in the bottom left-hand side of the screen.

Scope of Practice tab

This tab is only visible to GMC-registered practitioners and will be populated once your profile is complete – you can’t edit it. It’s also visible to any hospital or hospital group where you hold practising privileges and who has a subscription to The PPR. It’s not visible to the insurers.

The data shown is taken from the electronic bills submitted and validated through the Clearing Service from qualifying hospitals and clinics where you’re listed as the “controlling specialist” and is updated daily. CCSD-coded procedures are grouped together under plain language surgical subsets to make it easier for non-clinical people to understand. You’ll be able to see at a glance how many procedures you’ve undertaken at each site – covering a 12-month rolling period. Clicking on a number will display a pop-up giving a further breakdown by age groups.

The Last Recorded column indicates the last time a procedure was recorded at a site but doesn’t say where. These indicators show the procedure was done within the last month, the last 3 months or the last 12 months.

Fitness to Practise tab

This tab is split into the following separate sections, each with their own mini tab:

• Licence to Practise
• Certifications
• Appraisal
• DBS
• ICO

Licence to Practise

This is mandatory if you’re GMC-registered.

• Practising privileges withdrawn (Historic): Click Yes or No to indicate whether or not you’ve ever had practising privileges withdrawn – if yes, you’ll need to read the statement, tick the box and click Confirm to give us consent to process this information
• Upload details: If you’ve had practising privileges withdrawn, you’ll need to upload full details
• Prior or current investigations and proceedings by the police and any professional body, both UK and non-UK: Click Yes or No to indicate whether or not you’ve ever been subject to investigations or proceedings by the police or a professional body anywhere in the world – if yes, you’ll need to read the statement, tick the box and click Confirm to give us consent to process this information
• Upload details : If you’ve subject to any investigations or proceedings, you’ll need to upload full details
• Confirm license to practise: Click Yes or No to indicate whether or not you currently hold a licence to practise your profession in the UK – please note that membership of a regulatory/professional body doesn’t automatically mean you hold one

Certifications

This is where you upload any additional medical/clinical training certificates. You should also upload your Qualification certificates (e.g. your primary degree) here. Mandatory fields are marked with an asterisk*.

• Certification Title*: The name of the medical/clinical training undertaken, including your primary degree
• Certification Body*: Select the professional body that issued the certificate from the drop-down list (if you can’t find it check the list carefully as it may be shown in a different format than you’re looking for) – this could be the university/training facility name or the name of the organisation that oversees the training; if this isn’t in the list, click on Other at the bottom and complete the details
• Certificate*: Click Upload Attachment to upload a copy of the certificate

Appraisal

Appraisals are mandatory for GMC- and NMC-registered practitioners. Although this section is voluntary it would be helpful to the hospitals where you hold practising privileges to see this information as they need it for their records. The details at the top of the section are those of your appraiser.

• Title: The title of your appraiser
• First Name: The first name of your appraiser
• Last Name: The surname/family name of your appraiser
• Email: The direct email address of your appraiser
• Date of Last Appraisal: The date your appraisal was signed off by your Responsible Officer
• Date of Next Appraisal: The date given by your Responsible Officer for your next appraisal – this mustn’t be in the past
• Appraisal Period: The start and end dates of your current appraisal period – agreed between you and your appraiser
• Appraisal Summary: Click Upload Attachment to upload a copy of your summary document
• Personal Development Plan: Click Upload Attachment to upload a copy of your PDP
• Full Appraisal: Click Upload Attachment to upload a full copy of your appraisal document

DBS

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) was previously known as the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB). It’s likely that hospitals will need you to have an advanced DBS check to grant and maintain your practising privileges. This must be issued within the UK.

• DBS Date of Issue: The date your enhanced DBS certificate was issued
• DBS Number: The 12-digit enhanced DBS certificate number
• Certificate: Click Upload Attachment to upload a copy of your certificate

ICO

This section is where you add details about your registration with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Under the Data Protection (Charges and Information) Regulations 2018, if you process personal data (patient information) you need to pay an annual data protection fee to the ICO, even if you’re working within other organisations, such as hospitals, who’ll need to be registered separately. More information about this can be found on the ICO website here.

All the information required is on your certificate – just remember to update the details each year.

• ICO Registration Number
• Tier
• Date of ICO Registration: The date you were first registered as a data controller with the ICO
• Date ICO Registration Expires: The date your current annual data protection registration fee expire
• Certificate: Click Upload Attachment to upload a copy of your certificate

You’ve now completed this section and can click Save Profile in the bottom left-hand side of the screen.

Specialties & Qualifications tab

This first part of this section – Specialties & Sub-Specialties – is linked to the Profile tab and, if you’ve completed that, will already be done.  What’s left is for you to list your medical degree and any other primary qualification(s) you’ve achieved. Additional medical or clinical training should be listed in the Certifications section on the Fitness to Practise tab.

Qualifications

• Qualification: Your medical degree or other primary medical qualification – if it isn’t listed in the drop-down, click on Other at the bottom of the list to add the details, but check the list carefully as it may be shown in a longer or shorter format than you’re looking for
• Year of Qualification: The year you achieved this
• Place of Qualification: The university or training facility where you gained this
• Country of Qualification: The country where the university or training facility is located

Click Add to save the details – you can repeat the steps to add more.

Specialist Clinical Interests

This is an optional space for you to further define your sub-specialties to give greater detail of the clinical work you do.

Click Add Specialist Clinical Interests – you have 10,000 characters.

You’ve now completed this section and can click Save Profile in the bottom left-hand side of the screen.

Medical Secretary tab

This section is used to list the details of your medical secretaries. You may have more than one, each dealing with a different part of your private practice. Although this whole section is optional, if you do want to add some details the first and last names are required as a minimum.

Please note that any listed names should be your secretary’s legal names – those recognised by a government or other legal entity.

• Title: The title of your secretary
• First Name: The first name of your secretary
• Last Name: The surname/family name of your secretary
• Preferred Name: Your secretary’s preferred name e.g. an anglicised name, nickname or a shorter version of their first name
• Hospitals/Practices Managed: The site(s)managed by your secretary where you see patients – these will only be visible once you’ve completed the Private Practice tab
• Contact Type: The preferred address for your secretary to use as standard, from a choice of Correspondence or Billing – complete the details for the correspondence address as default; if your secretary uses a different address for invoicing purposes change the drop-down and fill in the details for the second address
• Address Prefix: Any additional address information that’s specific to the location of your secretary e.g. the business name, location within a building (floor and/or room number) etc.
• Address (Lines 1-4): Lines 1-4 of the correspondence address associated with your secretary e.g. building name, street number and/or name, city and county as required
• Postcode: The postcode of your secretary’s correspondence address
• Primary Telecom: The preferred method of contacting your secretary from a choice of email, phone, mobile or fax
• Email: Your secretary’s email address
• Phone: Your secretary’s phone number (landline or mobile)
• Mobile: Your secretary’s mobile number
• Fax: Your secretary’s fax number
• Working hours: Your secretary’s start and finish times either at that address and/or any associated sites, allocated by days of the week (Sunday to Saturday)

Click Add to save the details and repeat for any other secretaries you have.

You’ve now completed this section and can click Save Profile in the bottom left-hand side of the screen.

Publications tab

This section is for you to showcase your expertise in your field by listing publications you’ve written relevant to your practice. These can be in print or digital format.

• Publication Name: The title of the book, book chapter, article, medical paper or other you’ve written that’s been published in print or online
• Publication Date: The date it was made available in print or digital format
• Publication URL: A link to a website listing or holding the publication
• Publication Abstract: Click Add Publication Abstract to add a brief summary of the publication giving as much detail as you want about the purpose, methods, findings, conclusions and recommendations – you have 10,000 characters
• Upload File: Click Browse on the right of the screen to upload a copy of the publication

Click Add to save and repeat to add more.

You’ve now completed this section and can click Save Profile in the bottom left-hand side of the screen.

Banking tab

This is where you list your bank details so insurers can pay fees directly into your account. You can also give permission for them to give these details to patients who have shortfalls to pay. Mandatory fields are marked with an asterisk*.

• Bank Name*: The name of the UK bank where you have a bank account linked to your private practice
• Account Name*: The name that appears on your account
• Sort Code*: The 6-digit bank code that identifies the band and branch
• Account Number*: The 8-digit number that identifies you bank account
• Permission to insurers: Click Yes or No to indicate if you’re happy or not for the insurers to give patients your bank account details to pay any shortfalls

You’ve now completed this section and can click Save Profile in the bottom left-hand side of the screen.

Indemnity tab

It’s really important for insurers and hospitals to know that you have up to date and adequate indemnity cover. Each year as soon as you get your new insurance certificate, you must remember to add the details to show continuity of cover – you shouldn’t delete the old details. Mandatory fields are marked with an asterisk*.

• Medical Indemnity Insurance*: From the drop-down list select the name of the medical defence or insurance organisation that’s covering you for medical indemnity – please make sure you enter the actual indemnifier or insurance provider and NOT the broker (ask your provider if you’re not sure);  if it isn’t listed in the drop-down, click on Other at the bottom of the list to add the details, but check the list carefully as it may be shown in a longer or shorter format than you’re looking for
• Start Date*: The policy start date for your medical indemnity cover
• End Date”: The policy end date (must be in the future) for your medical indemnity cover
• Certificate Number*: The policy number
• Certificate*: Click Upload Attachment to upload a copy of your policy certificate

You’ve now completed this section and can click Save Profile in the bottom left-hand side of the screen.

Insurer Specific tab

This section is all about your recognition with the insurers – you’ll see a list of insurers together with your Provider Number and recognition Status.  For Aviva, AXA Health and Vitality click Yes or No to show whether you stick to their fee schedule. Hyperlinks are available to the insurers’ T&Cs and Fee Schedules for quick reference by clicking Terms & Conditions or Fee Schedule.

If you’re not recognised by Aviva, AXA Health and Vitality you can easily apply by clicking Apply next to their name. Click Yes or No to show whether you intend to stick to their fee schedule – please note that AXA Health and Vitality will only recognise practitioners who will.

You’ve now completed this section and can click Save Profile in the bottom left-hand side of the screen.

What happens next?

Once you’ve successfully completed all the mandatory fields you’ll get a pop-up to say that your profile will be re-validated before it’s made visible to the insurers and hospitals you work with. After that, you just need to remember to check and update your profile regularly (and not just the mandatory parts) – certainly whenever you get an updated indemnity or ICO certificate etc.

Want more support?

Why not sign up to our Healthcode Academy module. Our Service Delivery Associates will take you through the process step by step to ensure the mandatory fields are completed by the end of the session. You can just go back and fill in the rest at your leisure. More information can be found here.