In January 2025, we launched a pilot to test sending Accurx individual patient messages via the NHS App to certain practices, in collaboration with NHS England.
Over 12 weeks, we gathered significant data and conducted in-depth interviews. The findings show that app iterations, greater patient uptake, and further data collection are necessary before we can roll out this functionality nationwide. The NHS App is a critical part of delivering digital-first, patient-centred care, and we’re committed to this journey with NHS England. We’re currently working on a shared roadmap of improvements with NHS England, which will enable us to roll out this functionality to all practices nationwide.
This feature is only available to the group of pilot practices that were part of the original pilot or opted in because they are in certain ICBs. We will continue to test and pilot the improvements as they are released.
How does the Individual Messaging and NHS App feature work?
All individual messages sent via Accurx will now go via the NHS App as the first attempt to send the message. There will be no change to how you currently send individual messages. If the patient doesn't have the NHS App, we'll send it via SMS instead.
We check for the following conditions: 👇
That patients have the NHS app installed on their phones.
That patients have notifications switched on.
What types of messages will be sent via the NHS App?
You will be able to send the following messages to the NHS App inbox of patients who have their NHS App notifications switched on:
Individual SMS
Individual SMS with response allowed
Individual Questionnaire
Individual Self-Book Link
Video Consultation Invite
NHS App users with a proxy link to a patient (e.g., parents linked to children under 14, or carers) will not receive NHS App messages for the linked patient, as messaging is not currently supported for proxy profiles.
The table below shows the message types and the pathway the message can be sent via 👇
Message | Has the NHS App + Notifications on | No NHS App or notifications not on | Email included in CSV |
Batch Simple Message | NHS App 📱 | SMS 📞 | Emailed 📩 |
Batch Questionnaire | NHS App 📱 | SMS 📞 | Emailed 📩 |
Batch Self-Book Link | NHS App 📱 | SMS 📞 | Not available via Email ❌ |
Appointment Reminders | NHS App 📱 | SMS 📞 | Not available via Email ❌ |
The following messages will only go via SMS and not the NHS App 👇
Questionnaire reminders
Confirmation messages
2-factor authentication messages (sent when a patient verifies their identity when submitting an online request)
All message types that are already integrated with the NHS App (Batch messages and Appointment Reminders) will continue to be sent via the NHS App.
What happens if a patient doesn’t read a message in the NHS App?
We are committed to ensuring messages can be delivered via the NHS App in a clinically safe manner. For this reason, if a patient hasn’t read a message in the NHS App within 60 minutes of being delivered, an SMS message (a fallback message) is sent to that patient as well. This fallback SMS is triggered using real-time read receipt information from the NHS App. We will automatically send the message via SMS if the NHS App cannot deliver a push notification to the patient’s phone.
💬 Where do the responses go?
Responses will continue to go back to the same places as if you were sending a patient an SMS or Florey by text.
When will a message go via the NHS App?
The diagram below shows when we will use different channels for an individual message
If a user selects Email for an individual message (except Self-book links), we will email the patient
If email is not selected, we will try to deliver the message via the NHS App
If a patient doesn't have the NHS App, or their notifications are switched off, we will automatically fall back to SMS
🌟 When a message is sent, we check the NHS API to see if a patient has the NHS App downloaded & notifications switched on, which then determines whether we send the message via the NHS App or SMS.
Can I override sending a message to the NHS App and send it via SMS?
There isn’t an option to override sending a message to the NHS App if a patient has the App and notifications on. However, a user can override a number pulled from the patient record displayed in Compose. If this number is altered manually in the compose screen, we will default to sending via SMS only.
Will I get confirmation of the delivery / read status of an NHS App message?
When messages are sent via the NHS App (the patient has the App downloaded and notifications turned on), you will see an update in the conversation thread as "sent- To: NHS App". We will not update the status once a message has been delivered or read (but may add this in the future).
If a patient doesn't read the message in the NHS App within 60 minutes, a backup SMS is sent. There won't be any updates on the status of this SMS message, as a patient has already been notified in the NHS App, and this SMS is only a backup mechanism (this might change in the future).
If a patient doesn't have the NHS App downloaded or notifications switched on, the message is sent immediately via SMS to reduce the risk of an unseen message. The conversation thread will update as it currently does for SMS messages, including failed delivery notifications if an SMS fails.
How can we prepare patients for this change?
The NHS App is becoming a prominent channel for communication around a patient’s health, and the NHS App team are seeing more downloads every day. Patients should be increasingly familiar with receiving messages via the NHS App, as over half of the messages sent via Accurx are now integrated with it.
To drive the success of this pilot, we recommend that you communicate this with your patients and encourage them to download the NHS App and switch their notifications “On”. You could do this in several ways:
You can use NHS Digital templates here, or you can use website banners and infographics here to help you communicate this to patients.
Customise the copy in your Patient Triage form to let patients know that they will receive a response to their request via the App if they have the App & notifications switched on. This support article shows where you could update the wording in your Patient Triage form.
Sending a text message or email to patients ahead of the pilot starting, to let them know individual messages can now be received via the NHS App.
However, if a patient does not want to download the NHS App, they will continue to receive messages via SMS as they do now.
📖 What resources are available to support patients using this feature?
Patients have a wide range of resources available to them, both on the Accurx Help Centre and the NHS app Support Centre. Here are some suggested articles to help them when using the NHS app feature to view messages sent to them via Accurx. 👇
Title | Source |
Accurx | |
NHS | |
NHS | |
NHS |
Where can patients go to get more support?
Patients can contact the Accurx User Support team by going to the Help Centre and clicking the messenger icon in the bottom-right corner. 👇
If the patient is experiencing an issue specific to the NHS App, they can contact the NHS App Support Team by going to the NHS website and selecting the Help Desk option.
How can I share feedback or raise an issue with the pilot?
If you have any concerns or questions, please don't hesitate to contact our Support Team.
Can I switch the integration off?
Practices can switch the NHS App individual integration off at any time. Please get in touch with us via our Support chat, and a member of the team will disable the integration. Our team will ask why you would like to switch the integration, so we can gather feedback and insights from practices to help us improve the integration in the future.
What will happen after the pilot?
The individual messaging integration will remain enabled for practices that had access to it during the pilot, whilst we analyse the pilot results. If you would prefer to switch the integration off, please contact our Support Team, who can do this for you.
Will the fallback SMS increase my fragment costs?
If we cannot send a message to a patient's NHS App (either because they don't have the NHS App or notifications are off), or the patient doesn't read their NHS App message within 1 hour, we will send them a fallback SMS. This fallback SMS doesn't incur any additional fragment costs—the cost of the fallback SMS is the same as sending an SMS from the compose.
FAQs
I wasn’t in the treatment group, but I want to opt in
I wasn’t in the treatment group, but I want to opt in
Thanks for your interest in the NHS App individual messaging integration. The pilot results showed that further changes are needed before we can roll this out nationally, so we’re still in the piloting stage of the integration. We’re not able to let more practices opt in at the moment until we have seen an improvement in the pilot data. We’re working closely with the NHS App team on future enhancements so we can roll this out nationally as soon as we’re able.
Why aren’t you rolling this out?
Why aren’t you rolling this out?
The pilot data showed that patients with the NHS App had patient response rates in the treatment group (using the NHS App) that were significantly lower than those of the control group (SMS only). This disrupted some practices, leading to patients missing messages, appointments not being booked, and increased call volumes. We’re working closely with the NHS App team on future improvements to address some of the challenges experienced by patients and practices in the pilot, so that patient response rates for messages sent via the App increase. You can see a summary of the findings here.
If you still have any questions or concerns, feel free to chat with us using the green message bubble in the bottom right-hand corner of this page. 👉