North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust is trialling a new digital system from DrDoctor for patients to view appointment letters online.
Initially in pilot in the Gastroenterology Departments at Peterborough City and Hinchingbrooke Hospitals, the system will allow patients to manage their appointments on their mobile, tablet or computer via a secure patient portal. Patients will be able to view or download the appointment letter, and change the original date and time of the appointment, online if they need to.
Graham Wilde, Chief Operating Officer at North West Anglia NHS FT, said: “The move to digital appointment letters will not only help us improve the patient experience by allowing us to deliver patient letters faster, but also improve our environmental impact as a result of reducing the amount of paper and postage we are using.”
“Patients will have the option to go completely paperless or if they prefer paper letters, they can opt to receive their letters by post as usual.”
“The new system will only be available to patients under the care of our Gastroenterology Departments with the aim of rolling it out to all specialities across the Trust in the near future if the trial is successful.”
The software is being funded by the Eastern Academic Health Science Network.
The trust has also recently adopted a solution to digitise maternity notes, using software from K2 Maternity Systems. The systems provides access to maternity notes and information online, including a personalised care plan and details on appointments.
