Smart Notes works best when your forms are set up correctly. The AI uses the instructions and metadata on each form field to understand what to listen for and where to put information. Without that context, it may miss fields or produce inconsistent drafts.
Setting this up from scratch takes time. To help you get started quickly, we've published a set of pre-optimised form templates that are ready to import directly into your ACP environment.
Each template has been built with field-level instructions and Smart Notes metadata already configured, so the AI has clear guidance on every question from the first recording.
What's included
Four form templates are available to download and import:
Smart Notes: Key Contacts - records GP, district nurse, pharmacy, and other professional contacts for a client.
Smart Notes: Customer Profile Form - captures client demographic information, contact details, support requirements, funding, and referral details at the start of a care journey.
Smart Notes: Care Plan - a structured care plan covering client profile, daily routine, activities, meals, mobility, health conditions, specialist care needs, and a full breakdown of required services including companionship, home help, medication, and personal care.
Smart Notes: Needs Assessment Form - a comprehensive needs assessment covering Physical, Moving and Handling, and Environment sections, including risk identification and assessment for each area.
Before you start
You'll need:
Tenant Administrator access to ACP
Smart Notes enabled for your tenant. If you're not sure, contact your Account Manager or Customer Success Manager
ACP Mobile version 7.7 or above on any devices where Smart Notes will be used
How to import a form template
Download the JSON file for the form you want to use. Links are at the bottom of this article.
Log in to Access Care Planning on the web.
Navigate to Menu > Configuration > Forms.
Select Import Form
Select the JSON file you downloaded and confirm the upload.
The form will appear in your forms list. You can rename it and assign it to the relevant service or section as you normally would.
After importing: enabling Smart Notes on the form
Importing the form does not automatically enable Smart Notes on it. You need to do that separately.
Go to Menu > Configuration > Forms and open the imported form.
Find the Smart Notes setting on the form configuration screen. This is a tick box or toggle labelled Enable Smart Notes or similar.
Enable it and save.
Ask your care staff to sync their mobile devices before their next recording.
Once enabled, the teal Create Voice Recording button will appear at the top of the form in ACP Mobile.
Can I edit these templates?
Yes. These are starting points, not fixed templates. Once imported, you can edit the form in the Forms Designer like any other form in ACP.
A few things worth knowing if you do make changes:
Field labels and the instructions text on each field both influence what Smart Notes picks up. If you rename a field significantly, consider updating the instructions on that field too.
Smart Notes works with most common field types including text boxes, paragraph boxes, dropdowns, checkboxes, radio buttons, dates, and numbers. It cannot populate photo, body map, signature, barcode, or additional table rows beyond the first.
If you add new fields, adding a short instruction to each one will help Smart Notes understand what to extract.
More details on form optimisation are available in the Smart Notes form optimisation guide.