Patients Know Best (PKB)
Patients Know Best (PKB)
Coming Early Spring 2026
In early 2026, Bolton NHS Foundation Trust is planning to start providing patients with access to some of their secondary care health information by implementing the Patients Know Best (PKB) patient portal.
This personal health record system will initially allow patients to view details of their outpatient appointments with the Trust, and as the project progresses it will also include information on care plans, treatments and test results. In addition, it provides patients with access to self-management and symptom tracking tools to safely monitor their health condition and get help and support when needed.
You can also share your health information with healthcare professionals, family and carers – any time, anywhere. Building an online record of your health can help keep you and those involved in your care informed more regularly, which can lead to better decisions about your health and the care that you need.
PKB is also connected to the NHS App, where you can access other information, including from your GP. The PKB step-by-step guide can help you register using your NHS login.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can access your PKB record from any smartphone, tablet, or desktop device. There’s no need to update your device or install new software. Simply use your web browser to log in at my.patientsknowbest.com. You can also access PKB via the NHS App. Either you (or your carer) will need regular internet access to receive your correspondence and to access all the features.
Yes. you can only use one unique email address per registration e.g. you can’t use a family shared email if your family/friend already uses that email for their PKB account. If you are registering via the NHSApp, it will automatically use the email address associated with that account.
Yes. This is an online service and will require you or a carer to have regular internet access to receive your correspondence via the portal and to use the additional features.
If you want the family member or carer to have access to your portal record they can be added in the ‘Sharing’ section. This will allow them to set up their own account and allow you to control the level of access they have to your record.
No, this will not affect the care you already receive from us. Instead, it’s designed to improve your care and experience, help you to be more involved in decisions, get better explanations from us, and give you the tools to manage your care safely at home.
The portal is an optional service and requires you to ‘opt-in’ by registering. It provides choice to patients who wish to interact with the hospital in a digital format; it will not affect the care that you receive. If you do not wish to use the portal, you can ignore the invitation and you will continue to receive your hospital correspondence in the usual way.
You may not have information in your records when you first register but this will change over time as you visit our hospitals for treatment. In the meantime, you can add your own information – for example, by tracking your symptoms, recording any medication you take, connecting wearable devices (e.g. Fitbits or glucometers) or keeping a journal to help monitor any conditions.
Please email PKB directly at help@patientsknowbest.com
You only need to provide your name, the name of the organisation that created your account (i.e. this hospital) and a summary of the problem(s) you have encountered.
You can find out more about PKB’s feature’s on their website.
The majority of users log into the PKB web site. The site is designed to be responsive (any page looks good on any screen size device) with familiar web-based behaviours.
PKB works on all modern browsers (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Microsoft Edge), so as long as the system used supports these browsers – there should not be an issue.
PKB is optimised for use via mobile devices with screen 320 px and wider which includes Android (Chrome/Firefox) & iOS 10 and up (Chrome/Safari/Firefox).
