Improving outpatient experience at Chelsea site

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is expanding a successful trial of sending outpatient appointment letters by text. With immediate effect, the system will apply to nearly all adult and children’s services on the Chelsea site. 

In a successful rollout at our West Middlesex University Hospital site:

• In just 2 weeks, more than 5,000 West Middlesex patients received the option to view their appointment letter online
• Over 45% of patients already selected this option telling us they preferred digital communication, with only 4% opting for print
• We expect uptake to increase further as patients get more familiar with this new functionality

The system is intended to be quicker and more convenient for patients, while reducing Do Not Attend rates, administrative costs and the likelihood of error for the hospital.

Patients receive a text message with a link to take them to a secure portal. There is also an email option.

Be reassured that, with our partners DrDoctor and Synertec, the system is secure and meets NHS data standards. As a safeguard, the system sends a backup paper letter if the patient does not click their link soon after receipt.

• More information about this system

Note: A small number of services such as colposcopy will not be using the system.