How the Duplicate Enquiry Alert Works and What to Do When Duplicates Appear

Purpose of Document

This article exists to help support staff explain the duplicate enquiry alert feature to practices clearly and accurately, guide practices on how to use it operationally, and triage situations where duplicates are appearing that should not be, or where the alert is not appearing when it should.

Background: What the Duplicate Enquiry Alert Is

The duplicate enquiry alert was introduced on 11 February 2026. It automatically flags enquiries in the dashboard inbox when the system detects that the same patient has submitted more than one enquiry on the same day.

The alert displays a clear "Duplicate Enquiry" label on the relevant entry in the inbox. This is visible in real time as enquiries are processed. No configuration is required by the practice. The feature is automatically enabled for all practices using EMMA's inbox functionality.

How the Detection Logic Works

The system checks for matching patient numbers across submitted enquiries on the same day.

The alert covers the second or subsequent enquiry submitted by the same patient. The first enquiry submitted that day does not carry the alert. Only the later entries are flagged.

Where the Alert Appears

Main inbox (from 11 February 2026)

The alert is visible on duplicate enquiries in the standard inbox view. Staff can see at a glance which entries may be related to an enquiry already submitted earlier that day.

Failed and Review sections (from 5 March 2026)

The duplicate alert was extended to the Failed and Review sections of the dashboard on 5 March 2026. Before this, the alert only appeared in the main inbox. Admins reviewing failed or review-state enquiries could inadvertently process the same submission twice without knowing a duplicate existed. The extension of the alert to these sections eliminates this risk.

The detection logic in these sections is identical: same patient number, previously submitted enquiry, same day.

What Practice Staff Should Do When They See a Duplicate Alert

The duplicate alert is informational. It does not automatically suppress or delete the flagged enquiry. Practice staff must review and decide how to handle it.

Recommended process for practice staff:

1. When a duplicate alert appears on an enquiry, open both the flagged entry and the earlier entry from the same patient.
2. Review the content of both enquiries. In many cases the patient called back because they were unsure their first request went through, or they wanted to add information.
3. If both enquiries contain the same request, action the first submission and mark the second as a duplicate or discard it according to the surgery's internal process.
4. If the enquiries contain different information, for example the patient called back to add a symptom, action both entries or merge the information before actioning, depending on the surgery's workflow.
5. Do not action a flagged duplicate without first reviewing the original submission.

Related Platform Fixes Practice Staff Should Know About

Duplicate enquiry submission handling fix (13 March 2026)

Before this fix, duplicate submissions at the system level were triggering error alerts and could cause reprocessing. After 13 March 2026, duplicate submissions are silently acknowledged by the system, confirmed as received, and not reprocessed. No errors are generated and no false alerts are raised. This is a backend fix and has no visible impact on the dashboard.

Redirected enquiries no longer appearing in the admin inbox (1 May 2026)

Before this fix, enquiries that had already been redirected could incorrectly appear in the practice admin inbox. Admin teams were seeing submissions that required no action, which could appear similar to duplicates. After 1 May 2026, redirected enquiries are correctly identified at the backend and excluded from the admin inbox before they surface in the queue. Admin teams now only see enquiries that are relevant and require action.

If a practice reports seeing unnecessary or unexplained entries in their inbox that appear to require no action, and the issue predates 1 May 2026, this was likely the redirected enquiry issue now resolved. If it is occurring after 1 May 2026, escalate to engineering.

Important Limitations of the Duplicate Alert

Staff must be aware of the following limitations when explaining the alert to practices:

• The alert only covers same-day submissions. A patient who submitted an enquiry yesterday and calls again today will not trigger the alert, even if the requests are identical.
• The alert is based on patient number matching. If a patient calls and is not verified against PDS, they may not be matched to their existing patient number, and the alert may not trigger.
• The alert does not automatically merge or suppress duplicate entries. Practice staff must still review and action manually.
• The alert does not distinguish between a patient who genuinely has two separate requests and a patient who accidentally called twice. Both will be flagged if the patient numbers match on the same day.

Step-by-Step Triage Process

When a practice contacts support about duplicate enquiries:

1. Ask the practice to describe what they are seeing. Are they seeing the duplicate alert label on entries? Or are they seeing entries they believe are duplicates without any alert?
2. If the alert is appearing correctly: confirm the detection logic with the practice and walk them through the recommended process above.
3. If duplicates are appearing without the alert: check whether the patient numbers match on both entries. If they do not match, the alert will not trigger. This may indicate a patient verification issue on one of the calls.
4. If unexpected entries are appearing in the admin inbox that require no action: check whether this predates 1 May 2026. If after that date, escalate to engineering with the surgery ODS code and affected enquiry IDs.
5. If the duplicate alert is not appearing in the Failed or Review sections: check whether this predates 5 March 2026. If after that date, escalate to engineering.

What to Tell the Practice

Example wording when explaining the alert:

"The duplicate enquiry alert is a built-in feature that flags when the same patient submits more than one enquiry on the same day. When you see this label on an entry, it means an earlier enquiry from the same patient already exists in your inbox for today. We recommend reviewing both entries before actioning, so you can decide whether to handle one or both depending on what the patient requested."

Example wording when a practice is seeing entries in the admin inbox that appear to require no action:

"This was a known issue where certain redirected enquiries were incorrectly appearing in the admin inbox. This was resolved on 1 May 2026 and your team should no longer be seeing these. If they are still appearing, we will investigate immediately."

Common Mistakes

• Telling a practice the duplicate alert will automatically remove or suppress the flagged entry. It does not. Practice staff must review and action manually.
• Not explaining that the alert only covers same-day submissions. Practices sometimes expect it to catch repeat callers from previous days.
• Confusing redirected enquiries appearing in the admin inbox with genuine duplicates. These are separate issues with separate fixes.
• Not checking whether complaints about the alert not appearing in Failed or Review sections predate 5 March 2026.
• Assuming a patient number mismatch is a system error. It may be caused by a caller who was not verified against PDS during the call.

Escalation Guidance

Escalate to engineering if:

• The duplicate alert is not appearing in the main inbox for confirmed same-day same-patient submissions after 11 February 2026
• The duplicate alert is not appearing in Failed or Review sections after 5 March 2026
• Redirected enquiries are still appearing in the admin inbox after 1 May 2026
• Duplicate entries are being reprocessed or generating error alerts after 13 March 2026

When escalating, always include:

• Surgery name and ODS code
• Affected enquiry IDs
• Dates and timestamps of the affected entries
• Description of what is appearing in the inbox versus what is expected
• Whether the issue predates or postdates the relevant platform fixes

Last Reviewed: May 2026 Owner: Support and Customer Success