How to Handover an Individual Patient

Introduction

Handing over a patient transfers your clinical responsibility to another team member. Use this when transitioning care during shift changes, going off duty, or transferring a patient to a colleague's care. The handover creates a formal request that the recipient must accept before responsibility is transferred.

Before You Start

• You must currently have responsibility for the patient you want to handover
• The recipient must be a member of your team and available to accept handovers
• You cannot handover a patient if you already have a pending handover request for that patient to the same person

Steps

1. Navigate to the patient's profile page by selecting the patient from your My Patients list or team view

2. Click the dropdown menu button on the patient profile page

3. Select Handover Patient from the menu (indicated by a tab icon)

4. The system automatically performs a preflight check. If you already have a pending handover request for this patient to another user, you'll see an error message and cannot proceed

5. In the dialog that appears titled "Request patient handover for [Patient Name]", begin typing the name of the team member you want to handover to in the search field

6. Select the recipient from the autocomplete results. Their name, role, and avatar image will appear for confirmation

7. Review the selected user's details to ensure you're handing over to the correct person

8. Click Send handover request

9. The dialog closes and the handover request is sent. The recipient will see this request in their handovers inbox and must accept it before responsibility transfers

Tips

• Handover requests are not immediate - The recipient must actively accept the request before they take responsibility for the patient. Until then, you remain responsible.

• Check for pending requests - You cannot send duplicate handover requests for the same patient to the same person. If you need to change the recipient, cancel the original request first from your sent handovers list.

• Search by name or role - The user search is intelligent and searches both names and clinical roles to help you find the right team member quickly.

• Going off duty? - If you're handing over multiple patients at shift end, consider using Handover all patients or Handover all my patients in this team instead for faster bulk handovers.

Related Features

• How to Accept or Reject a Handover Request - Learn what happens when someone sends you a handover request
• How to Handover All Patients - Bulk handover all your patients to one colleague
• How to Relinquish Responsibility for a Patient - Release responsibility without transferring to a specific person