Date of Birth, Sex

Date of birth - A mandatory entry - type in, for example, as 3.2.76 or 03.02.76 or 03/02/76 or 3/2/76, or 30/03/1899. Enter the full year where there is ambiguity about the century, eg, for patients born in the 1800s.

Sex - A mandatory entry. Either click on to display options and click on selection from M Male, F Female, or type M for male, F for female etc. In England and Wales only, you can also select from I Indeterminate, or U Unknown.

Note - The patient's date of birth and sex make up part of the patient's CHI number in Scotland, and you are strongly advised to contact your Health Board before making any alteration to either of these. If either field is amended, the patient may be re-registered and a new CHI number generated.

Changing a patient's date of birth

You may want to correct a patient's date of birth. In Scotland, the date of birth forms the first six digits of the CHI number, so any amendment to the date will warn you:

Date of Birth has changed. This effects the patient's CHI number. Continue? Yes / No.

If you are linked to the HA or HB, you will generate an Amendment transaction. For those in Scotland, a new CHI number will be generated and the patient effectively re-registered.