Overview 
To use askmyGP effectively, your system setup must meet certain minimum requirements. If you are experiencing any difficulties using askmyGP, please review the information provided below to assist with troubleshooting alongside your local IT provider.
Note: that the minimum requirements of askmyGP can be subject to change. Where such a change is likely to have broad impact on askmyGP’s user base, every effort will be made to communicate these decisions ahead of time.
Disk space
There are no specific disk space requirements to run askmyGP effectively, however, the application file size is approximately 5MB.
Hardware
Operating System - askmyGP only requires a supported browser and should run regardless of the underlying operating system. The application is tested on Windows, OSX, iOS, Android and Linux and requires cookies to be enabled within the browser.
Screen resolution – The minimum resolution of the monitor should be 1024x768. In addition, browser client area should be no less than 1024x768.
Peripherals – To maximise efficiency when using the system, askmyGP strongly recommend that all clinicians are equipped with the following:
- Two monitors – this enables the clinician to have one screen with their active askmyGP session open at all times and a second screen for accessing their practice clinical system.
- Webcam and Microphone – askmyGP has video calling capabilities and requires a webcam and microphone to facilitate two-way video calling. Note: A video camera is not essential as one-way video call with a patient can still be initiated where only the patient has an available camera.
Configuration
Please ensure that the following ports:
- 80
- 443
- 6000 - 6010
are open for outgoing TCP connections to the following IP addresses:
- 10.215.86.145
- 10.215.86.147 - 10.215.86.150
Please liaise with your local IT support to ensure that these ports are opened prior to launch.
Video calls
askmyGP uses Gruveo to enable you to make video calls from the browser on your computers which can be received by patients using computers as well as Android and iOS mobile devices. No plugins or other downloads are required.
Gruveo uses the open source WebRTC protocol (documented at https://webrtc.org/) to connect between clinician and patient devices. As noted above, ports 6000-6010, 80 and 443 (TCP) need to be open. In addition, ports in the range 49152:65535 will also need to be open for UDP to support inbound WebRTC connections. You will also need to ensure that gruveo.com is not being blocked by your local IT group policy/firewall.
Video calls via Gruveo are supported on the following devices:
Desktop or Laptop:
- Recent Chrome and Firefox on Windows, macOS and Linux
- Safari 11 and above on macOS
Android phones and tablets:
- Chrome and Firefox for Android, as well as other Chrome-like browsers
- iPhone, iPad and iPod touch:
- Safari (iOS 11 and above only)*
*Please note that due to iOS limitations, Gruveo does not work in-app (via the askmyGP PWA) and third-party browsers on iOS. Gruveo displays a message directing the user to switch to vanilla Safari in that case.
When prompted by your browser, you will need to enable camera and microphone access. Gruveo video requires 300 Kbps (kilobits per second) at a minimum to run properly.
Web Browser
All vendor supported browsers which are fully HTML5 compatible are supported. This include browsers available from Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Safari (version 10+) and Firefox and no special settings are required. IE11 is not supported. Cookies must be enabled within the browser.
Testing - The application is tested across a range of supported browsers to ensure compatibility, but this is limited only to the current and previous browser versions.
Provider Connectivity
Due to the Patient Identifiable Data (PID) accessible within the application, a connection to the HSCN (Health & Social Care Network) is required at all times. Any computer within the GP practice will be connected to this network, but if working remotely you will need to obtain access via a VPN (Virtual Private Network) which can be provided by your local IT support.
VPN Access - If you are attempting to access askmyGP via VPN and are encountering issues, please view the troubleshooting guidance below and try the following:
- Reset TLS Settings: This can be done by going to: Settings > Internet Options > Advanced > Security > Use TLS 1.2
The "Use TLS 1.2" part can be 1.2 or 1.3, but it should not be set to 1.0 (which we don't support as it is insecure). For Further details Click here
Please ensure that the following ports:
- 80
- 443
- 6000 - 6010
are open for outgoing TCP connections to the following IP addresses:
- 215.86.145
- 215.86.147 - 10.215.86.150
Patient App
Patients can access their app on any desktop, laptop or smart device with an internet connection. It is designed and tested for compatibility with the OS’s and web browsers highlighted in the sections above. It can be downloaded as a PWA with push notifications enabled in compatible browsers and detailed guides for doing this can be found within our Help Centre.