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Central London Community Healthcare launches digital letters and questionnaires through the NHS App

Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust (CLCH) has launched digital letters and questionnaires through the NHS App.

The service went live on 2 December 2025 and will roll out over the next 12 months for patients using Central London Community Healthcare services in north and south west London.

Patients will receive appointment letters, clinic information and pre-appointment questionnaires directly via the NHS App, with the trust noting if a patient does not open the digital letter within 48 hours, an automatic printed copy will be sent.

CLCH highlighted the development “builds on CLCH’s recent achievement as the first community NHS trust to introduce NHS App notifications” and now with digital letters and questionnaires available through the App.

Andrew Chronias, chief information officer at CLCH, said: “Going live with digital letters is a major step forward for us as a community trust. It supports the ambition in the NHS 10 year plan of moving from analogue to digital, giving our patients clearer, faster access to their health information and making our services more efficient and sustainable. Most importantly, it gives our patients more choice and control, helping them engage with their care in a way that works for them.”

In June, CLCH shared a recent evaluation of its Hospital at Home approach, revealing that 95.8 percent of patients cared for by Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust and West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals Trust’s Virtual Hospital, prefer using virtual hospital models. Conducted by Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust, the study shares a number of key insights when it comes to patient engagement and economic benefits. According to their findings, the trust has saved £1.33 million between April 2023 and April 2024, thanks to the Hospital at Home service, with costs averaging at around £118.49 per bed day, which they have noted is “considerably less than inpatient care of £569”.

Supporting patients with virtual tech: the wider trend 

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has introduced a collection of virtual access guides for the Horton General Hospital in Banbury and Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre to make it easier to navigate both hospitals. The online guides offer details on key access routes and facilities throughout the two hospitals, covering 39 wards and departments at Horton General and 29 at Nuffield. The resources were developed with help from the information platform, AccessAble and Oxford Hospitals Charity, with the aim to “make visits easier and more reassuring for patients, visitors and staff with a wide range of accessibility needs”.

For a recent HTN Now webinar on the role of data and digital in supporting population health management (PHM), we were joined by a panel including Victoria Townshend, portfolio director (associate) with the GIRFT Elective Team; Mayur Vibhuti, CCIO and GP clinical lead for digital at Kent and Medway ICB; and Harry Thirkettle, director of health and innovation from Aire Logic. Our panellists explored and discussed approaches to PHM, successes, challenges, what works and what doesn’t, through to measuring the impact of PHM interventions.

Patients Know Best has announced it has surpassed 6 million registered patients as it closes out the year, representing a 30 percent increase since the start of 2025. Since launching its GP data integration six months ago, over 2.5 million patients have chosen to also add their GP data alongside their hospital information, delivering a single patient record at scale. The company shared with HTN that “this enriched record is driving stronger engagement, with these patients’ monthly logins increasing from 35 percent to 45 percent”, reflecting the “value people see when they can access, understand, and manage a fuller view of their health”.