Accurx Web: How to send Batch Messages

🔔This feature is currently ONLY available for University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust and selected users.

What is Batch Messaging?

Accurx Batch Messaging allows you to send the same text message to a group of patients at once. This saves you time typing out individual texts if you're sending the same message to many patients.

There are currently 2 types of batch messages you can send:

1️⃣ One-way SMS message with the option to include an attachment

This one-way SMS message does not allow recipients of the message to respond. This is useful for a broadcast message regarding the cancellation of a clinic.

2️⃣ A waiting list validation questionnaire with structured responses

The waiting list validation questionnaire was built to help hospitals reduce their waiting lists by asking patients to confirm if they still need their appointments. If patients respond saying they no longer need their appointment, they can give one of four reasons:

Patient responses are delivered straight to your Accurx inbox and you’ll be notified on your NHS email. Alternatively, you can download a report of all responses from Accurx.

Automatic reminders to respond to the questionnaire will be sent on the 3rd and 6th day (from time of delivery) to patients who haven’t responded.

How do I send a batch message?

2. Click on the “Send new batch” button located at the top left.

3. Choose:

🅰️ “SMS” if you don’t expect a response from patients e.g. a clinic cancellation notice

Begin composing your SMS batch message either by selecting a template from the dropdown menu or by clicking directly into the Message field to start typing. You can also choose to add an attachment such as an information leaflet.

🅱️ “Florey” if you want to send a waiting list validation questionnaire. (Florey is what we call our questionnaires which is what we’re using to allow patients to send us a response):

Select a Florey template from the dropdown:

Selecting a template will auto-populate the text in the message. Here you can replace the {insert specialty at insert hospital name} text with the relevant service the message is going out from and the hospital the original appointment was at.

4. If you’re happy with your message, click “Add a patient list” at the bottom to move to the next page.

5. Next you’ll have to upload your list of patients whom you want to contact. Click “Upload a CSV”.

Your CSV file should contain two columns detailing the NHS number and Date of Birth of your patients. Here’s an example below 👇

6. You'll then be taken to "Review patient list", once you've confirmed the intended recipients click "Continue".

7. Schedule the message:

Selecting “Now” will send the batch message immediately. Alternatively, you can also choose “A later time” allowing you to send the batch message at any date and time of your choice in the future.

We also provide the option for "Staggered sending" which allows the message to be sent in smaller groups with a time delay rather than all at once.

8. Press review at the bottom of the page to move forward.

9. Click “Send Message”.

How do I know my batch message has been sent?

Your Batch status will update from “Sending” to “Done” when all your messages have been delivered.

There are a few different delivery statuses displayed below 👇

You can check on the progress of the batch message you’ve sent by clicking on ‘View details’.

In the pop-up, you can see when the message was sent, how many people were messaged and download a CSV of the delivery receipts and responses received (this can take a few days to completely update). You can also review the context of the message that was sent.

If you have any other questions at all, please chat with our support team by clicking the green message icon in the bottom right 👉