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Access Patient Engagement Portal (PEP)
Access Patient Engagement Portal (PEP) is a secure portal that lets patients manage their appointments and view their own medical records. PEP stays linked to Rio, so the information patients see matches the record clinicians use.
Fewer administrative queries give clinicians more time for patient care. The aim is to cut the calls about moved appointments that take up booking team time.
The Challenge of Patient Engagement
Nearly one in four people have missed an NHS appointment because they forgot or arrived too late, according to a new survey that NHS England highlighted in March 2026. Reminders and an easy way to rearrange help people act before the slot is lost.
PEP lets patients cancel or reschedule appointments, message their clinicians and view their own medical records. Their information stays linked to Rio EPR.
Reducing Missed Appointments with Smarter Patient Engagement
Did Not Attend rates are falling, but the number of missed appointments remains large. NHS England Digital reports that the DNA rate fell from 6.2% in 2019-20 to 5.4% in 2025-26. Even so, around 8.2 million outpatient appointments ended as a DNA in 2025-26. Each one leaves a clinic slot empty and a patient waiting longer for care.
Rearranging an appointment by phone or email can take several exchanges before a new time is confirmed. NHS England's guidance on reducing DNAs encourages providers to offer other ways to cancel, such as a patient portal or two-way messaging. A patient engagement portal gives patients that option inside the service that runs their appointments.
Why choose our Patient Engagement Portal
Healthcare providers want a robust, easy-to-use solution when it comes to a patient portal; something that patients and clinicians alike can use effectively for communication and patient management. The Access Patient Engagement Portal delivers this:
Appointment management
Patients can view, book, reschedule or cancel appointments themselves, where their clinic allows changes online. Each change made online is one less call for the booking team to take.
Real-time communication
Patients receive notifications and messages from clinicians as things change, so they know what has moved without having to chase it.
Video consultations
Clinicians can hold video consultations with patients wherever they are, so a follow-up does not depend on both people being in the same place.
Two-way messaging
Patients can send a question and get a reply inside the portal, rather than waiting for the next appointment or a return call.
Secure login
Patients sign in with NHS login, so access to their information starts with a secure, personal sign-in.
Data privacy
Patient information is shared only with permitted clinicians and health and care organisations. Each user sees only the data their task needs.
Proactive communication
Proactive communication through the patient engagement portal provides reassurance for patients and reduces concern around their healthcare journey, which is a common contributor to a lack of patient engagement in treatment or follow-ups.
Access Patient Engagement Portal also ensures safe access for patients and stringent data privacy regarding their information. We ensure that the data sharing and access only uses what’s relevant, and to permitted clinicians or health and care organisations.
Where patients already have a say
Patients already have a legal right to choose where they have their first outpatient appointment when they are referred. The NHS App now lets patients at every acute NHS trust in England check their referrals and appointments, and many can reschedule or cancel through it. The App handles only a patient's first referral appointment, so later appointments still depend on the provider's own tools. The Access Patient Engagement Portal gives patients the same control over the appointments and records their Trust manages.
The NHS Modernisation Bill, introduced to Parliament on 14 May 2026, proposes a single patient record. It is still going through Parliament, so the record is a plan rather than a reality. Until then, patients and clinicians still need reliable tools to manage appointments today.
Learn more about how PEP fits into your appointment process.
The Benefits of the Patient Engagement Portal
Patients only use a portal when it fits around their life. PEP is designed to make everyday tasks simpler for patients, booking teams and clinicians.
Benefits for the patients
- Take an active role in their care journey
- Track appointments
- See the progress of their treatment plan
- Review their medical history
- Receive real-time notifications for appointments, test results, and clinician messages
- Access local wellbeing services or community resources
Benefits for the clinicians
- Greater patient participation means a reduction in missed appointments.
- Less wastage, more predictability, better time-management for doctors and nurses.
- Access’ patient engagement portal streamlines the clinical workflow with fewer logins, easier data entry, quicker record retrieval.
- PEP also automatically flows back into patient record systems like Rio EPR, to provide a centralised record - one single source of the truth.
- Less time spent on administrative tasks means a reduced workload for clinicians, so that they have more time to focus on patient care, personal development, or don’t fall behind in an emergency scenario.
- Reduced NHS’ reliance on more expensive agency workers to cover shifts.
- Reduced staff absenteeism from stress, burnout, or sickness.
