The NHS Transformation Directorate has launched best practice and content guidance, designed to help NHS colleagues in deciding when and how to message patients, using NHS Notify, and protecting patient data.
In a LinkedIn post, the directorate said: “As part of our wider transformation work, we are embracing a digital‑first approach to patient messaging, making it easier to reach people through the NHS App, text and email, while improving experience and reducing costs. The guidance brings together clinical safety, governance and digital best practice to support consistent, evidence‑based communication across services.”
The guidance is applicable to anyone involved in planning or sending of patient messages, including product teams and operational staff. It offers a step-by-step walkthrough on how to register for and use NHS Notify. It also covers channel selection, outlining the benefits and drawbacks of methods of contact including NHS App messages, text messages, emails, and paper letters.
Colleagues are advised to ensure they are following their organisation’s local procedures when it comes to information governance and patient safety, to confirm with a clinical safety officer that their message is appropriate for the selected channel when including clinical or personal information, and to assure every message sent via NHS Notify has “a legal basis to be sent”.
As far as the content of messages sent out to patients, the content guidance aims to help colleagues make messaging inclusive and accessible, providing examples and templates to assist in the writing process. It includes advice about using “plain simple” language and the NHS’s voice and tone; keeping messages short and concise; starting with the most important information; and only including links when necessary. Information and best practice around greeting choice, use of links, and formatting is also provided.
Colleagues are similarly advised to write messages tailored specifically to the channel they are using. “Writing messages specifically for the channel means users are more likely to understand and engage with important health-related requests or advice,” the guidance reads. “For example, copying and pasting the contents of a letter into a text message or NHS App message is bad practice as this can create formatting issues and could result in a poor user experience.”
Wider trend: NHS communications
With the publication of the 10 Year Health Plan, the government has outlined the role of the NHS App in its health system of the future, highlighting AI-enabled features, links with wearable tech, and access to the Single Patient Record. Sir Jim Mackey, chief executive at NHS England, said: “The NHS App will be at the heart of the tech transformation we’re planning for the NHS to give people much more ownership of their healthcare – all from wherever they are at the tap of a screen.” The NHS App will become a “doctor in their pockets” for patients as a tool for access, empowerment, and care planning, creating a “full front door to the entire NHS”.
An end of year update from NHS England has revealed that the NHS App has now reached more than 39 million users, with 62.3 million logins in November, and 67.8 million repeat prescriptions ordered through the app in the past 12 months. Zubir Ahmed, health innovation minister, shared these latest stats, reflecting: “From prescription trackers to family features, we’ve upgraded the app this year to make it more helpful, and we are striving to deliver more improvements in the New Year as we build towards the launch of the NHS virtual hospital. Our 10 Year Health Plan is already shifting care from analogue to digital and building an NHS that is fit for the future and fit for us all.”
NHS England has shared the latest updates on its NHS App Roadmap, including recently completed pilots, current areas of focus, and plans for future development. The roadmap notes a list of NHS App integrated live partners and services, including providers such as Accurx and Anima Health for online consultations, Patients Know Best for personal health records, and DrDoctor and Health Call for secondary care. Since the start of 2025, notification opt-in rate has increased by eight percent, with 88 percent of active users opted in for push notifications to be notified of new messages. Currently, the focus is on onboarding new services and adding new message types, as well as enabling digital letters from secondary care to be viewed in the app inbox.
