We have partnered with DrDoctor, a digital health company, to introduce digital letters for some outpatient appointments.
We will send you a text message - if you have a mobile number registered with the Trust - or an email with a link to drdoctor.thirdparty.nhs.uk/RPH, which allows you to view and download your appointment letters on your mobile phone, tablet or computer.
Patients who prefer paper letters can still receive these by post as usual.
We would like to thank all our patients for adapting to receiving outpatient appointment letters by SMS and/or email.
Digital letters
We are currently sending digital letters only for some face-to-face, phone and video outpatient appointments.
All patients will be automatically opted in to digital letters.
How to view your online appointment letters:
- We will send you a text message (and email if requested) when you have a new digital appointment letter to view online.
- Click the drdoctor.thirdparty.nhs.uk/RPH in your text message to go to the secure DrDoctor website.
- Click 'view letter' and log in with your last name, date of birth and post code.
- View and download your new digital letter online as a pdf file. Your outpatient appointment letters will be stored here for future reference.
You can log in from any device by visiting drdoctor.thirdparty.nhs.uk/RPH.
When using a different device, we will send a code to your mobile phone number for security.
Paper letters
Patients who prefer paper can still receive appointment letters by post instead of digital letters. We will also automatically send you a paper letter if you don't open your digital letter.
If you want to view your letter online and receive a paper letter by post, you can request a paper letter.
- Log into drdoctor.thirdparty.nhs.uk/RPH, go to the 'Settings' tab in the top right, and turn off the paperless option.
- Reply PRINT to the text message notifying you that you have a new online appointment letter. The system will know to post the most recent outpatient letter to you.
Benefits
There are a number of benefits to digital letters.
- All letters can be accessed in one place, quickly and easily.
- It prevents letters being lost in the post, which will help to reduce our did not attend (DNA) rates.
- It ensures letters are received in the right order.
- It saves the NHS money.
- It is better for the environment, in line with our Green Plan.
Frequently Asked Questions
The digital communications come from the same mobile phone number: 07860 039 092 or from no-reply@drdoctor.co.uk via email.
The link to view your online appointment letters or complete your assessment form will be drdoctor.thirdparty.nhs.uk/RPH.
The most common reasons are:
- When the appointment letter is for a family member but we have your mobile phone on the record (e.g. a child), so you will need to use their date of birth to verify.
- We have an old home address on our system. That means your printed letters would have gone to the old address.
- We have a temporary address recorded for you, which needs us to input an end date.
If you cannot log in with your details, please contact our relevant team:
- Cardiology appointments - 01223 638933
- Respiratory Support and Sleep Centre (RSSC) - 01223 638176
- Surgery & transplant appointments - 01223 638229
- Thoracic & lung appointments - 01223 638135
Check we have your most up-to-date details:
- Full name
- Date of birth
- Post code
- Mobile phone number
Patients who receive online appointment letters are invited to update their personal details in the DrDoctor website - however, this does not immediately update your patient record with the Trust.
If you need to change your contact details for the Trust, please contact the Trust as well as your GP.
There are two main reasons why you might get a 404 error message when trying to view your pdf file.
The appointment letter is for a family member or relative who is registered with the same phone number or email with the hospital.
You are a patient at more than one NHS trust and when you logged in you choose the wrong Trust website to log into: if this occurs, please ensure that you are accessing the login page directly through the drdoctor.thirdparty.nhs.uk/RPH login page which is linked in your message.
If you have a smartphone:
- hold your finger on the text until the copy option appears
- select the text (if necessary)
- press 'copy'
- open a new email and address it to yourself
- in the body of the email, hold your finger in the free text space until the 'paste' option appears
- press paste and send yourself an email.
You may open the email from a different device, to view the correspondence.
You can update your contact details at drdoctor.thirdparty.nhs.uk/RPH in the settings menu:
- log into drdoctor.thirdparty.nhs.uk/RPH
- go to 'Settings' in the top rightclick the 'Add new' button
- click 'Email'
- type in your email address
- click 'Add'.
It is not possible to receive emails without also receiving a text message.
If either DrDoctor or the Trust has an email address recorded for you, this will mean that you will also receive your invitation to your view your online appointment letters through email.
For patients aged 15 and under, correspondence is addressed to parents/guardians.
From the age of 16 onwards, the Trust addresses correspondence to patients. Patients are encouraged to inform the Trust when it is considered appropriate for the individual patient to provide their own mobile number on their record rather than parent/guardian.
Text message replies will be free if you have a text message bundle with your provider, otherwise you will be charged at your provider's standard rate.
You can change your digital letter setting online for free by following the link in your text messages or using drdoctor.thirdparty.nhs.uk/RPH.
We have now rolled out online appointment letters in departments across the Trust.
If you should be receiving online appointment letters but are not, we may not have your correct mobile number on our system. Please contact the relevant team:
- Cardiology appointments - 01223 638933
- Respiratory Support and Sleep Centre (RSSC) - 01223 638176
- Surgery & transplant appointments - 01223 638229
- Thoracic & lung appointments - 01223 638135
and check we have your most up-to-date mobile number.
DrDoctor is a digital health company modernising how hospitals and patients communicate. They provide a convenient way to manage your appointments while reducing costs, saving time and developing better overall experiences for patients.
How is my data handled?
To enable us to deliver this service, we give DrDoctor only enough information to provide you with these services.
DrDoctor is accredited to the highest standards set by the NHS for protecting the healthcare information of UK citizens as certified here. For more information see DrDoctor's Privacy Policy.
What data is shared with DrDoctor?
- Details of any outpatient appointment scheduled (all of the information which would usually be provided in a posted appointment letter).
- Full name, date of birth, NHS number, full address, any contact numbers (land line and mobile and email) known to the Trust's Electronic Patient Record (EPR).
- Referral specialty data and waiting list information.
The Trust is aware that a small proportion of patients may decide to stop any further data being shared with DrDoctor and may request that DrDoctor deletes any data already shared. This is possible by making a 'Right to Be Forgotten' or 'General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Opt Out' request by contacting the relevant team:
- Cardiology appointments - 01223 638933
- Respiratory Support and Sleep Centre (RSSC) - 01223 638176
- Surgery & transplant appointments - 01223 638229
- Thoracic & lung appointments - 01223 638135