Send messages based on your needs

Direct messaging

Use NHS Notify to support your organisation or service to send individual messages directly to each of your patients.

Who can use direct messaging

Direct messaging with NHS Notify is recommended for organisations, services or GPIT suppliers in secondary care.

You might send direct messages for:

  • online consultations
  • general primary care
  • acute secondary care appointments

Choosing your message order

If you send direct messages with the NHS App, it’s your organisation or service’s responsibility to make sure they fallback to another message channel if they do not send. These fallbacks must follow certain rules.

You must adhere to the following:

1. Time sensitive NHS app messages should fallback when:

  • a recipient does not have the NHS App
  • a ‘notified’ status is not received within 1 hour
  • the message is not read by the recipient within 4 hours

2. Bulk NHS App messages should fallback when:

  • a recipient does not have the NHS App
  • a ‘notified’ status is not received within 1 hour
  • the message is not read by the recipient within 24 hours

3. Acute secondary care appointment NHS App messages should fallback when:

  • a recipient does not have the NHS App
  • a ‘notified’ status is not received within 1 hour
  • the message is not read by the recipient within 4, 12 or 24 hours

Using the NHS App for patient journeys

When you send direct messages with NHS Notify, how patients can interact with them and continue their journey depends on your message type.

General primary care messages

You must adhere to the following in your user journeys:

  • the message must only provide information, or its call to action must not involve a digital step (for example, “call your GP”)
  • message content must be in the message body or if you’re linking to other message content
  • any links should only open a patients web browser
  • links should only take patients to web-based content such as your website, NHS.UK, a GP’s website, or other relevant web pages
  • do not include links that open other mobile applications
Online consultation (OLC) messages

You must adhere to the following in your user journeys:

  • include the clinical response directly in the message body
  • use links to your website for additional content or full responses
  • links should only open a patients web browser
  • do not include links that open other mobile applications
  • only include deeplink’s that takes patients into your OLC journey within the NHS App to view a clinicians response
  • only allow patients to reply to OLC messages through an external website or as part of the broader OLC journey within the NHS App
Acute secondary care appointment messages (PEPs)

You must adhere to the following in your user journeys:

  • only use content that is standard and created by the Wayfinder programme
  • your NHS Trust owns any of the content linked to digital letters or questionnaires
  • your NHS App message must link directly to the letter or questionnaire, following the standard Wayfinder patient flow
  • all patient replies are handled via questionnaires controlled within the PEP platform, not through the NHS App

New and upcoming features for NHS Notify

If you’re thinking of using NHS Notify for direct messaging but cannot find the features you need, read about our new and upcoming features to find out what we’re working on next.