Introduction
The "Handover all patients" feature allows you to transfer responsibility for all of your current patients to another clinician in a single action. This is particularly useful when going off duty, handing over your caseload at the end of a shift, or transferring all your patients to a colleague.
Before You Start
- You must have at least one patient for whom you are currently responsible
- The person you're handing over to must be a member of the same team(s) as your patients
- The recipient must be "on duty" to receive handover requests
- No special role or permissions required – any clinical user can handover their patients
Steps
Initiating the Handover
- From the sidebar, click My Patients
- In the top-right corner, click the kebab menu (three dots)
- Click Handover all patients from the dropdown menu
- The "Handover all patients" dialog opens
Selecting the Recipient
- In the search field, start typing the name of the clinician you want to handover to (placeholder text reads: "Start typing a name of assignee to search...")
- Search results appear as you type, showing names in the format FirstName LastName
- If a user appears with a reason in brackets (e.g., "John Smith (not on duty)"), they cannot be selected
- Click on a valid user from the search results
Reviewing the Preflight Check
Once you select a recipient, CAREFUL automatically checks whether your patients can be handed over. You'll see one of three scenarios:
Scenario A: All patients can be handed over ✓
A green confirmation message appears:
"Everything looks good. Click submit to send a handover request for all [number] of your patients to [FirstName]."
Proceed to step 9.
Scenario B: Some patients cannot be handed over ⚠️
A warning message appears:
"Some of your patients cannot be handed over to [FirstName] for the following reasons:"
A table displays with three columns:
- Name – the patient's name
- Status – green tick (✓) for handoverable patients, red cross (✗) for blocked patients
- Reason – explanation of why the patient cannot be handed over
Below the table, you'll see:
"If you would like to hand over the other [number] patients anyway, click the button below"
This means you can proceed with a partial handover of the eligible patients only. Proceed to step 9 if you wish to continue.
Scenario C: No patients can be handed over ✗
An error message appears:
"None of your patients can be handed over to [FirstName] for the following reasons:"
The same table appears, but all patients show a red cross (✗). A red blocked icon is displayed, and the Submit button is disabled.
You cannot proceed. Close the dialog and select a different recipient who shares team membership with your patients.
Completing the Handover
- Review the information and click Submit
- The handover request is sent to the recipient
- The dialog closes automatically
What Happens Next
For You (the Sender)
- You remain responsible for your patients until the recipient accepts the handover
- Your handover request appears in the Sent tab on the Handovers page (accessible from the sidebar)
- You can cancel the request at any time before it's accepted by clicking Cancel in the Sent tab
For the Recipient
- They receive a push notification about your handover request (if they're on duty and have notifications enabled)
- The request appears in their Received tab on the Handovers page
- They can choose to Accept or Reject the handover
If They Accept
- Responsibility for all handovered patients transfers to the recipient
- All outstanding actions for those patients are reassigned to the recipient
- You are relieved of responsibility for those patients
- They can now view and manage the patients in their My Patients list
If They Reject
- You retain responsibility for all your patients
- You can send a new handover request to a different clinician if needed
Understanding Blocking Reasons
When some or all patients cannot be handed over, common reasons include:
| Reason | Explanation | How to Resolve |
|---|---|---|
| User not on same team | The recipient must be a member of the same team(s) as the patient | Choose a recipient who shares team membership, or refer the patient to the recipient's team first |
| User not on duty | The recipient must be marked as "on duty" to receive handover requests | Ask the recipient to set themselves to "on duty", or choose a different recipient |
| User disabled | The recipient's account has been disabled | Choose a different recipient |
Tips
- Check team membership in advance – Before initiating a handover, verify that your chosen recipient is a member of the same team(s) as your patients. This avoids blocked handovers
- Verify the recipient is on duty – Users who are "off duty" cannot receive handover requests. You can check a user's duty status on the Members tab of your team view
- Partial handovers are acceptable – If some patients are blocked, you can still proceed with handing over the eligible patients. You can then handover the remaining patients individually or to a different recipient
- Consider team-specific handovers for complex caseloads – If you have patients across multiple teams and want more control over who receives which patients, use the "Handover all my patients in this team" feature instead (accessible from each team's kebab menu)
- Monitor your sent handovers – Check the Sent tab on the Handovers page to see if your handover has been accepted, rejected, or is still pending