Please see this update from NHS Lothian regarding communication you may receive from hospital. Instead of a letter, you may now be given a text with a link to click on.
Letters from NHS Lothian sent electronically
We’re moving over to sending letters electronically meaning you can view your administration letters on your mobile phone, tablet or computer.
Across NHS Lothian we send a high volume of letters by post each month. To help us reach patients quicker, reduce costs and reduce the environmental impact, we are moving to sending our administration letters electronically where possible. By administration letters, we mean letters such as Outpatient appointment letters, Cancellation letters, Add to Waiting List or Re-scheduled appointments etc.
If you have a mobile phone then you don’t need to wait for your administration letter to arrive in the post anymore as you will receive notification to view your letter at the click of a button via our online portal.
Don’t worry about missing a letter as if you don’t open the electronic letter- within 48 hours a hard copy paper version will be sent to you by post. If you don’t have a mobile phone, or you’ve not given us your mobile number, you will continue to receive paper letters in the post.
Benefits
With electronic letters you can:
- Change the text size of your letter, zoom in or out
- Have the letter read out to you
- Change the letter to another language
- Download the letter to your device (phone, tablet, laptop, computer), securely email it to yourself or someone else or print it if desired
- Automatically add the date of your appointment/admission to your phone’s calendar at the click of a button
- Save the printing and postage costs for NHS Lothian, which is also better for the environment as well
Rollout plan
Go Live date: April 2024 for first phase of letters with all patient administration letters due to be available by March 2025.
Later phases will include Outpatient, Inpatient and Radiology patient administration letters.
If you change your mobile phone number, please make sure you let us know so that we can continue to send text notifications to you.
Watch the video here to see how it works in detail:
What happens when you receive the text message?
- You will receive a text message to your mobile phone with an invitation to view your letter – it will come from ‘NHS Lothian ‘ and say ‘
This is an important digital letter from NHS Lothian with information about your care. Please log in to the following link with PIN xxxx and your Date of Birth on your smartphone, tablet, laptop or PC. Thank you [——–PortalLink——–] - When you enter the Patient Portal, put in your date of birth and unique four-digit PIN from the text message. This will take you to your letter.
- You can download the letter and/or add the appointment/admission to your own calendar. It’s quick, easy, safe and secure and should the digital letter not be opened within 48 hours the system will automatically print and post a copy out to your address.
Instructions for downloading/emailing/printing from the patient portal
Downloading
How to download a copy of your digital letter
Download the digital letter by clicking the “Download” button at the bottom left of the screen
Printing
How to print a copy of your digital letter
Select the “More” button at the bottom right of the screen
On the next page select the “Print Letter” option
On the next page select your home printer
How to securely email a copy of your digital letter
Select the “More” button at the bottom right of the screen
On the next page select the “Email Letter” option
Enter the email you want to send a copy of your letter to. You’ll then be asked to create a password which will be needed to open the letter.