Documents

Document Templates Guide

Ceveta's document composer lets you create professional clinical correspondence in minutes. This guide covers everything from setting up reusable templates with dynamic variables to generating polished PDFs with your practice letterhead and sharing documents securely with patients and other clinicians.

Understanding Document Types

Ceveta supports four core document types, each designed for a specific purpose within clinical practice. Choosing the correct type when creating a document ensures it is categorised properly and easy to find later.

Letters

General correspondence such as GP letters, follow-up letters to patients, and communications with insurers. Letters are the most commonly used document type and typically include your practice letterhead.

Reports

Detailed clinical reports including consultation summaries, medicolegal reports, and assessment outcomes. Reports tend to be longer and more structured than letters.

Prescriptions

Private prescriptions for medications, treatments, or medical devices. These require careful formatting and typically include the prescribing clinician's GMC number and signature.

Referrals

Referral letters sent to other specialists, hospitals, or allied health professionals. Referrals usually include a summary of the patient's presenting complaint, relevant history, and the reason for referral.

You can assign any template to any document type. This means you can have multiple letter templates for different purposes — one for GP letters, another for insurance correspondence, and so on.

Creating Your First Template

Templates are the foundation of Ceveta's document system. Rather than writing each letter from scratch, you create a template once and reuse it for every patient. When you generate a document from a template, Ceveta automatically fills in the patient and clinician details for you.

To create your first template, navigate to Settings → Document Templates in the sidebar. Click the New Template button and you will be presented with the template editor.

Steps to create a template

1Give your template a descriptive name (e.g. "GP Letter — Post-Consultation").
2Select the document type: letter, report, prescription, or referral.
3Write the body of your template using the rich text editor. Insert template variables wherever you want patient or clinician details to appear automatically.
4Optionally, assign the template to a specific clinician so it only appears for their documents.
5Save the template. It is now available whenever you create a new document for any patient.

There is no limit to the number of templates you can create. Most practices start with three or four core templates and add more as their needs evolve.

Using Template Variables

Template variables are placeholders that Ceveta replaces with real data when you create a document. They are written using double curly braces, for example {{patient.fullName}}. When you generate a document for a specific patient, Ceveta substitutes each variable with the corresponding value from the patient record, clinician profile, or organisation settings.

This means you write the template once and it works for every patient. No more copying and pasting names, addresses, or NHS numbers — Ceveta handles it all.

Available Template Variables

{{patient.title}}Patient's title (Mr, Mrs, Ms, Dr, etc.)

{{patient.firstName}}Patient's first name

{{patient.lastName}}Patient's surname

{{patient.fullName}}Full name including title

{{patient.dateOfBirth}}Date of birth formatted as DD/MM/YYYY

{{patient.nhsNumber}}NHS number, if recorded

{{patient.hospitalNumber}}Hospital number, if recorded

{{patient.address}}Full postal address

{{clinician.fullName}}Clinician's full name with title

{{clinician.gmcNumber}}GMC registration number

{{clinician.specialty}}Clinician's specialty

{{clinician.qualifications}}Professional qualifications

{{organisation.name}}Practice or organisation name

{{organisation.address}}Organisation postal address

{{organisation.phone}}Organisation phone number

{{organisation.email}}Organisation email address

{{document.date}}Document creation date

{{document.referenceNumber}}Auto-generated reference number

Tip: If a variable has no value for a particular patient (for example, an NHS number that has not been recorded), Ceveta will leave the placeholder blank rather than displaying the variable syntax. You can review and fill in any gaps before sending.

Setting Up Letterhead

Professional correspondence requires professional presentation. Ceveta allows you to configure custom headers and footers that appear on every document and PDF your organisation produces. This gives all your correspondence a consistent, branded appearance.

To set up your letterhead, go to Settings → Organisation and look for the Document Branding section. Here you can configure:

Header

Your header typically includes your practice logo, organisation name, address, phone number, and email. This appears at the top of every generated PDF. You can upload your logo and Ceveta will position it alongside your contact details automatically.

Footer

The footer appears at the bottom of every page and is ideal for regulatory information such as company registration numbers, CQC registration details, or any legal disclaimers your practice requires. You can also include the clinician's GMC number and qualifications here.

Letterhead settings apply to all documents across your organisation. If you operate from multiple locations, the organisation-level branding is used consistently to maintain a unified appearance.

Writing and Editing Documents

Ceveta includes a powerful rich text editor built on Tiptap that gives you full control over the formatting and structure of your documents. Whether you are writing a brief GP letter or a detailed medicolegal report, the editor provides all the tools you need.

When you create a new document for a patient and select a template, the editor pre-fills with the template content and all variables are replaced with the patient's actual data. You can then edit the content freely before saving or sending.

Text Formatting

Bold, italic, and underline
Headings (H1 through H4)
Bulleted and numbered lists
Text alignment (left, centre, right)

Structure

Paragraphs with proper spacing
Horizontal rules for section breaks
Block quotes for emphasis
Tables for structured data

Clinical Tools

Quick variable insertion menu
Template variable highlighting
Undo and redo support
Keyboard shortcuts for efficiency

Workflow

Autosave to prevent data loss
Draft mode for work in progress
Author and signing clinician fields
Document date selection

Generating PDFs

Every document in Ceveta can be exported as a professionally formatted PDF. The PDF includes your custom letterhead (header and footer), proper page margins, and clean typography — ready to print, email, or upload to other systems.

To generate a PDF, open any document and click the Download PDF button. Ceveta renders the document server-side to ensure consistent formatting regardless of which browser or device you are using.

What is included in the PDF

Your organisation's logo and contact details in the header
The document body with all formatting preserved
Author name and signing clinician details
Document date and reference number
Footer with regulatory information and clinician credentials
Consistent A4 page sizing with professional margins

PDFs are generated on demand and are not stored permanently. You can regenerate a PDF at any time from the document view. If you update the document content, the next PDF you generate will reflect those changes.

Tips for Common Medical Documents

Below are suggestions for structuring the most common clinical documents. These are not rigid rules — every practice has its own style — but they serve as a helpful starting point when building your templates.

GP Letters (Post-Consultation)

The GP letter is the most frequently written document in private practice. It should be concise yet comprehensive, giving the GP enough context to continue the patient's care.

Recommended structure

1.Opening — thank the GP for the referral (if applicable) and confirm the consultation date
2.Presenting complaint — a brief summary of why the patient attended
3.Relevant history — pertinent medical, surgical, and drug history
4.Examination findings — key clinical findings from the consultation
5.Investigations — any tests ordered or results reviewed
6.Diagnosis / Impression — your clinical impression or confirmed diagnosis
7.Management plan — what you have recommended, prescribed, or arranged
8.Follow-up — when you will see the patient again, or discharge information

Referral Letters

When referring a patient to another specialist, clarity is paramount. The receiving clinician needs to understand exactly why you are referring and what you would like them to do.

Key elements to include

A clear statement of the reason for referral in the opening paragraph
Patient demographics and relevant identifiers (NHS number, date of birth)
Summary of relevant clinical history and current medications
Your clinical findings and any investigations performed
The specific question or action you are requesting
Urgency — whether routine, urgent, or emergency

Discharge Summaries

Discharge summaries provide a concise record of a patient's episode of care. They are essential for continuity and should be sent to the patient's GP promptly after discharge.

Recommended sections

Date of admission and date of discharge
Diagnosis and any procedures performed
Summary of the inpatient stay or daycase episode
Medications on discharge (new, changed, or stopped)
Follow-up arrangements and any pending results
Red flags — what should prompt the patient to seek urgent review

Managing Document Status

Every document in Ceveta has a status that reflects where it sits in your workflow. This helps you keep track of which documents are still being worked on and which have been finalised and sent.

Draft

A document starts as a draft. In this state it is still being composed and can be freely edited. Draft documents are visible only to your team and cannot be shared externally. Use the draft status for documents that need review or approval before sending.

Sent

When a document is finalised, you mark it as sent. This indicates the document has been reviewed, approved, and dispatched — whether via a share link, PDF download, or the patient portal. Sent documents can still be edited if corrections are needed, but the status change provides a clear audit trail.

Audit trail: Every status change is recorded in Ceveta's audit log, along with who made the change and when. This is important for compliance and helps you demonstrate that proper processes are being followed within your organisation.

Next Steps

Now that you understand how document templates work, here are some related guides to help you get the most out of Ceveta:

Getting Started

Set up your organisation and invite your team

Patient Management

Manage patient records and clinical notes

Invoicing & Payments

Create invoices and accept payments online

Patient Portal

Let patients access documents and invoices

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