Introduction
Organisation patient fields allow you to capture custom information specific to your organisation's needs. As an Administrator, you can add, edit, hide, or reorder these fields to tailor patient records to your clinical workflows.
Before You Start
Required permission: You must be an Organisation Administrator to edit patient fields.
Standard team members and Team Owners cannot access this feature.
Steps
Opening the Patient Fields Editor
- From the sidebar, click My Organization
- Click the kebab menu (⋮) in the top-right corner of the screen
- Select Edit Organization Patient Fields from the dropdown menu
- The Edit Organisation Fields dialog box appears, showing all existing custom fields
Adding a New Field
- Scroll to the New field section at the bottom of the dialog
- Type the field name in the New Organization Field Name input box
- Click the Select a type dropdown and choose the field type:
- Text — free-text information (e.g., referring GP, care home name)
- Number — numeric values (e.g., ward number, priority score)
- Date Time — dates and times (e.g., expected discharge date)
- Boolean — yes/no or true/false values (e.g., DNR status, interpreter required)
- Click the plus button (+) to add the field
- The new field appears in the list above and the input box clears automatically
Note: Field names must be unique within your organisation. If you try to use a duplicate name, you'll see the error message: "A patient Organisation Field by this name already exists."
Editing an Existing Field
- Click on the field name (text area) you want to edit
- Type the new name, or click the Select a type dropdown to change the field type
- Click the checkmark button (✓) to save your changes
- Or click the X button to cancel without saving
Important: You can only edit one field at a time. While editing a field, all other action buttons are disabled and you cannot add new fields.
Constraint: You cannot change the type of a field that already contains patient data. If you need to change the type, you must create a new field and hide the old one.
Hiding or Showing a Field
- Find the field you want to hide or show
- Click the visibility toggle switch to the right of the field
- Visible — the field appears on patient records
- Hidden — the field is hidden from view but data is preserved
- Click the checkmark button (✓) to confirm
Hidden fields are not deleted — they're simply removed from view. You can make them visible again at any time using the same toggle.
Reordering Fields
- Click and hold the move icon (≡) on the right side of a field
- Drag the field to the desired position in the list
- Release to drop it in place
- The field order updates automatically — no need to click Save
The background changes to light blue while you're dragging to show which field you're moving.
Closing the Dialog
Click the X button in the dialog header to close the editor and return to the Organisation view.
Tips
- Plan your field names carefully. Once a field contains patient data, you cannot change its type — only its name or visibility.
- Use the hide feature instead of deleting. If you stop using a field, hide it rather than trying to work around the system. This preserves historical data.
- Field order matters for usability. Put frequently used fields at the top of the list so staff see them first when viewing patient records.
- Boolean fields are powerful. Use them for simple flags like "High Risk", "Safeguarding Concern", or "Translator Required" to enable quick visual scanning.
- You can't delete fields. CAREFUL does not support permanent deletion of organisation fields. This is by design to protect data integrity and audit trails.