Digital letters for your outpatients appointment

When it comes to your health, it's important to receive information quickly and easily. That's why we are introducing digital letters, a new service that lets you view and download your hospital letters online instantly.

Some services already offer the digital letter and patients can view and download outpatient appointment letters online instantly. This will be rolled out across all services following positive patient feedback.

Patients will receive outpatient appointment letters digitally via text (and email, if available). The message will include a secure link to view and download appointment letters.

Patients who prefer paper letters can still receive appointments by post. They will need to update their preferences on the DrDoctor patient portal or reply PRINT to the text message which will notify us to send a copy in the post. You can also visit the Patient Portal at any time using the Patient Portal.

If you are not currently receiving digital letters and you would like to, enquire about it with your care team during your visit or ring the number on the appointment letter to find out if your service is eligible.

How to access your digital letter

  • We'll send you a text message or email when you have a new letter to view online.
  • Follow the NHS.my link to go to your letter, click 'View letter'.
  • Enter your last name, date of birth and postcode.
  • To log into our secure patient portal, check you're happy with the privacy policy and click 'I accept' to continue.

Once online, you can view your letter and download or print it if you wish, your digital letters will be stored here for future reference.

If you'd rather view your letter on a computer, we've made it easy. Simply visit NHS.my. Enter your last name, date of birth and postcode. We will send you a one time code to your mobile number for added security. Enter this into the web page to login. If you can't access your digital letter, don't worry, we will automatically post your paper letter as usual.

If you do view your letter online, and would also like to receive a paper copy by post, you can request one by replying PRINT to your text message, or by going to the settings tab online and turning off paperless.

You will receive a text message to your mobile phone, from which you will be able to access our online patient portal by following the link included in the text/email.

From the patient portal, you can:

  • Request to rebook or cancel your appointments
  • View location information, including a map, to help ensure you get to the right place at the right time
  • View clinic information about your upcoming appointment
  • Add your appointment to your calendar
  • View all upcoming appointment details in one place
  • Have easy access to digital outpatient letters for services that provide them.

  • Digital letters allow you to view your normal appointment letter on the internet or smart phone
  • Allow patients to view their letters quickly and easily
  • Reduce confusion from lost letters or letters arriving in the wrong order
  • Save the NHS money by reducing the amount of paper and stamps that we are using
  • Reduce our environmental impact.

You will be sent a text message (and email, if available) when you have a new digital letter to view online.

To view your letter:

  • Click the secure link in your text message to be directed to the patient portal
  • Click 'View letter' and log in with your last name, date of birth and postcode
  • View or download your new digital letter as a PDF.

Your letters will be stored on the DrDoctor patient portal for future reference.

You can also log in from any device by visiting the Patient Portal.

When logging in to the patient portal directly, we will send a code to your mobile phone number for security purposes.

Patients who prefer paper letters can still receive their letters by post. We will automatically send you a paper letter if you don’t view your digital letter within two days.

If you want to view your letter online and receive a paper letter by post you can request a printed letter by:

  • Replying PRINT to your original text message notifying you that you have a new digital letter
  • Logging into your secure patient portal, going to the 'Settings' menu in the top right, and turning off the paperless option

If you change your mind at any time and want to receive your information digitally again, you can reply DIGITAL to the original text message. You can also log into the secure patient portal, go into the 'Settings' menu and turn on the paperless option.

If you open and read your digital outpatient letter within two days of receiving it, you will not get a printed letter in the post. If you would like to receive an appointment letter by post please reply to the text message you have received with PRINT. If you do this you will get a digital letter and a printed outpatient letter.

Yes. They will be sent by a company we are working with called DrDoctor. They will send patients text messages from the number 07860 039 092 and emails containing a "drdoctor.thirdparty.nhs.uk" link. This link is unique to patients for their digital letter so will look something like "https://drdoctor.thirdparty.nhs.uk/wQVZvxhYG25ZZ".

If we have your email address, we will also email you.

Yes, patients can access the Patient Portal, from any device and navigate to the 'Letters' section. When using this, for additional security, we will send patients a one-time code to their mobile number.

If you would like to receive printed letters by post again, you can do this by logging in to the Patient Portal, going to the 'Settings' menu and turning off paperless letters.

This is usually due to the Trust having the wrong contact details for patients on our patient administration system. Please check we have your correct last name, date of birth, postcode, mobile number and email address. We sync with DrDoctor regularly so these details will work for patients trying to log in soon.

This could be because:

  • The letter is for a family member or relative who is registered with the same phone number or email with the hospital
  • You are a patient at more than one NHS Trust and when you logged in you choose the wrong Trust portal to log in to (DrDoctor support a number of hospital trusts across the country).

To enable us to deliver this service, DrDoctor will have access to your contact information but not detailed information about your health. DrDoctor is accredited to the highest standards set by the NHS for protecting the healthcare information of UK citizens. For more information, please visit DrDoctor privacy information page.

You can also view the Trust Privacy Policy.

The patient portal ensures that appointment information is never lost and is easily accessible wherever you are and whenever you need it. Going paperless means that you are supporting the NHS to be more environmentally friendly.