It’s been three months since we launched our new patient portal, managed by DrDoctor, and we’ve seen a huge increase in requests for printed appointment letters, which is costing us much more than we expected.

If more patients can access their letters and corresponding information digitally, it will reduce our costs, which we can better invest into patient services. This is crucial as we’re all working hard to support our financial recovery.

To further help reduce the number of paper letters we send, we have increased the amount of time patients have to access their letters to 72 hours from 24 hours.

If patients are booked an appointment that is due within the following 14 days, colleagues should contact them by telephone to make sure they’re aware. A paper copy will also be sent automatically by second class post.

Appointment Services Supervisor, Hussnain Bhatti, recently had a text regarding an appointment. He said: “I can't believe how much easier it is to access my digital appointment letter through the new DrDoctor patient portal.

“It only takes a few simple steps to access them and is better for CHFT financially, as well as for the environment as no paper copies are needed."

You can see a copy of the new step-by-step guide below – feel free to share it with patients. It’s also on the Patient Portal intranet page.