{"id":12,"date":"2025-01-28T14:32:12","date_gmt":"2025-01-28T14:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oxfordhealth.nhs.uk\/va\/?page_id=12"},"modified":"2026-06-23T07:38:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T06:38:11","slug":"va","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/oxfordhealth.nhs.uk\/bpmhs-referrals\/","title":{"rendered":"Virtual Assistant Referral"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Refer using our Virtual Assistant<\/h2>\n<p>Our new<strong> Virtual Assistant<\/strong> is a secure and user-friendly digital tool to send referrals to our service. It offers a simple guided conversation to provide essential details and submit referrals quickly and safely directly to our team.<\/p>\n<p>This service helps us deliver more efficient care while meeting the highest NHS digital safety standards.<\/p>\n<h2>How to Self-Refer using our Virtual Assistant<\/h2>\n<p>To get started simply click the <strong>Make a Referral<\/strong>\u00a0button in the bottom right corner of this webpage.<\/p>\n<p>The Virtual Assistant will guide you step-by-step in just a few minutes.<\/p>\n<p>It will first ask for some personal details, if you have your NHS number please provide it, if not you can still complete a referral.<\/p>\n<p>You will be asked a few questions relating to the reasons you need to be seen and some medical history.<\/p>\n<p>When you click <strong>Submit<\/strong>\u00a0the referral is sent directly to our service.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ohft-box red\">\n<p>Please note that if you leave the chat halfway through, information will be lost and you will need to start afresh.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Frequently asked questions<\/h2>\n<details class=\"nhsuk-details\">\n                    <summary class=\"nhsuk-details__summary\">\n                        <span class=\"nhsuk-details__summary-text\">What details do I need to authenticate?<\/span>\n                    <\/summary>\n                    <div class=\"nhsuk-details__text\">\n<p>The ideal details are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Your NHS Number<\/li>\n<li>Your date of birth<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you don&#8217;t have your NHS Number, you will need:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Your surname<\/li>\n<li>Your postcode<\/li>\n<li>Your date of birth<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n                <\/details>\n<details class=\"nhsuk-details\">\n                    <summary class=\"nhsuk-details__summary\">\n                        <span class=\"nhsuk-details__summary-text\">I don&#039;t have my NHS Number. What should I do?<\/span>\n                    <\/summary>\n                    <div class=\"nhsuk-details__text\">\n<p>Your NHS Number can usually be found on NHS appointment letters. You can also find it using the NHS tool via this link:<\/p>\n<div class=\"nhsuk-action-link\"><a class=\"nhsuk-action-link__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nhs.uk\/nhs-services\/online-services\/find-nhs-number\" target=\"_self\"><span class=\"nhsuk-action-link__text\">Find your NHS number<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<p>If you don&#8217;t have it, you can still authenticate using:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Your surname<\/li>\n<li>Your postcode<\/li>\n<li>Your date of birth<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For more help finding your NHS Number, visit the NHS website. [link]\n<\/div>\n                <\/details>\n<details class=\"nhsuk-details\">\n                    <summary class=\"nhsuk-details__summary\">\n                        <span class=\"nhsuk-details__summary-text\">What if the VA cannot identify me?<\/span>\n                    <\/summary>\n                    <div class=\"nhsuk-details__text\">\n<p>In the first instance please try re-entering the information to make sure it is correct. This can happen if you attempt to authenticate without your NHS Number.<\/p>\n<p>While most people can authenticate using their surname, postcode, and date of birth, some cases \u2014 such as twins with similar details \u2014 may require your unique NHS Number.<\/p>\n<p>To resolve this:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Locate your NHS Number and use it to authenticate.<\/li>\n<li>Alternatively, contact the service using the telephone number on their website<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n                <\/details>\n<details class=\"nhsuk-details\">\n                    <summary class=\"nhsuk-details__summary\">\n                        <span class=\"nhsuk-details__summary-text\">Why doesn&#039;t the Virtual Assistant understand me?<\/span>\n                    <\/summary>\n                    <div class=\"nhsuk-details__text\">\n<p>The Virtual Assistant cannot answer any questions. It can only submit referrals.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n                <\/details>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"nhsuk-action-link\"><a class=\"nhsuk-action-link__link\" href=\"https:\/\/oxfordhealth.nhs.uk\/buckinghamshire-perinatal-mental-health-service\/\" target=\"_self\"><span class=\"nhsuk-action-link__text\">Go back to Bucks PMHS website<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Refer using our Virtual Assistant Our new Virtual Assistant is a secure and user-friendly digital tool to send referrals to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-12","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhealth.nhs.uk\/bpmhs-referrals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhealth.nhs.uk\/bpmhs-referrals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhealth.nhs.uk\/bpmhs-referrals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhealth.nhs.uk\/bpmhs-referrals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhealth.nhs.uk\/bpmhs-referrals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhealth.nhs.uk\/bpmhs-referrals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78,"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhealth.nhs.uk\/bpmhs-referrals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12\/revisions\/78"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxfordhealth.nhs.uk\/bpmhs-referrals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}