Practices can request that the panic button remains available for their organisation beyond this date by filling in a form within EMIS Web. As part of this request, the practice will be required to acknowledge and accept responsibility for the known risks and limitations associated with the panic button.
EMIS say they will provide some guidance to practices who have asked to retain the panic button and those practices can request that the panic button is removed at any point if they change their minds. In March 2023 EMIS announced that the panic button would be phased out over concerns that they could no longer guarantee it would work within certain local network configurations, following this various GP organisations lobbied EMIS to provide some option to retain it even if the functionality could not be guaranteed.
The BMA are currently collecting information on the experiences of GPs and practice team members who use EMIS via this form. This covers feedback on all features of EMIS and is not limited to the panic button.