Patient Messaging Blueprint

Planned

General patient messaging via NHS App (email fallback). Reuses the same rail as the reminder system — results, recalls, announcements, care plan check-ins.

Delivery order

1. NHS App

Primary channel — free

→

2. Email

Fallback — free

SMS is deliberately out-of-scope — it has a per-message cost and defeats the purpose of moving off Accurx/Mjog.

Status: planned

This blueprint is the roadmap for patient messaging beyond reminders. Build it only after the reminder system has been running cleanly at Wye Valley Surgery for at least 2 weeks.

Use cases

Results notifications

Tell patients when a blood test, imaging, or screening result is ready to view in the NHS App.

"Your recent test result has been reviewed. Please log in to the NHS App to view it."

Recall invitations

Annual reviews (diabetes, hypertension, asthma), QOF recalls, cervical screening, NHS Health Checks.

"It is time for your annual diabetes review. Please book an appointment with the nurse."

Practice announcements

Flu clinic invitations, practice closures, new services, telephone line changes.

"The surgery will be closed on 26 August for staff training. For urgent care, call NHS 111."

Care plan check-ins

Chronic disease follow-ups, medication review reminders, lifestyle programme invitations.

"Your blood pressure medication review is due. Please book a 10-minute appointment."

Prerequisites

If the reminder system is already live, most of the infrastructure is reused. Items marked reuse are already in place; items marked new need to be added per use case.

NHS Notify account + MESH credentials

reuse

If the reminder system is already live, the same account and MESH credentials cover all message types. No new NHS application needed.

Owner: Dr Krishnan Pasupathi, GP Partner, Wye Valley Surgery

SCW HSCN whitelist

reuse

Same outbound endpoints as reminders (NHS Notify + MESH). Already whitelisted from the first setup.

Owner: SCW Work Reception

Message template in NHS Notify portal

new

Draft each message in plain English, get GP sign-off, then add the template in the NHS Notify portal. Each template gets a unique template ID used by the script.

Owner: Practice admin + GP clinical sign-off

EMIS Population Report for the cohort

new

One report per use case. E.g., "Patients with diabetes annual review due in next 14 days" or "Patients with results marked as reviewed in last 24h".

Owner: Practice admin (with EMIS access)

DPIA update

new

Each new message type changes the data flow. Update the existing DPIA before go-live. Aryash Health can help draft the amendment.

Owner: Dr Krishnan + Clinical Safety Officer

Setup steps (per use case)

Confirm reminder system is live

General messaging reuses the reminder system's plumbing (MESH auth, NHS Notify API, dedup). Do not start this until the reminder system has been running cleanly for at least 2 weeks.

Draft the message with clinical sign-off

Write plain English (reading age 11-12). Never include clinical detail in the message body — patients read it in the NHS App where the full record lives. Always end with a safety-net line (e.g., "If you feel unwell, call 111 or your GP").

Tip: Get GP clinical sign-off on the wording before publishing. Keep a signed-off copy in the governance folder.

Create the template in NHS Notify

Log into the NHS Notify portal. Create a new template with personalisation placeholders (e.g., ((first_name)), ((appointment_date))). Save and copy the template ID.

Build the EMIS Population Report

Define the cohort: which patients, what trigger, how often. Include NHS Number, first name, and any placeholder values (e.g., appointment date). Schedule the export to the same folder as the reminder system.

Tip: Start narrow. A cohort of 50 is better than 500 for the first send — you can spot issues before they reach thousands.

Fork the reminder script

Copy send_reminders.py to send_messages.py. Change: the template ID, the CSV path, the placeholder mapping, and the 48h/24h schedule (recalls do not need multi-window sends).

Tip: Keep one script per use case, not one script with branching. Easier to audit, easier to disable if something goes wrong.

Dry run, then small cohort

Run with --dry-run first. Review the log. Then live-send to a 20-patient cohort. Check NHS App delivery and email fallback. Only scale up once you are confident.

Schedule and monitor

Add to Windows Task Scheduler with a cadence that suits the use case (daily for results, weekly for recalls, one-off for announcements). Monitor delivery via SharePoint dashboard.

Message design rules

Plain English, reading age 11-12 (use Hemingway Editor to check)
Never include clinical detail in the message body — data stays in the NHS App / patient record
Always include a safety-net line ("If unwell, call 111 or your GP")
Include the surgery name and a practice contact number
Personalisation via NHS Notify placeholders only ((first_name), ((date))) — never paste EMIS fields directly
GP clinical sign-off before go-live; keep a signed-off copy on file

Governance

Each new message type changes the data flow. The existing DPIA must be updated before go-live for each use case. Clinical Safety Officer sign-off is required on message wording. Keep a signed-off copy of each template on file.

Can the surgery build this themselves?

Yes — mostly. Once NHS Notify access is in place for reminders, the surgery can create new templates in the NHS Notify portal and build EMIS reports for each new cohort. The Python script can be forked from the reminder-system with minor edits.

What the surgery cannot self-serve: DPIA amendments for each new use case — that needs clinical governance input from Dr Krishnan / Aryash Health.

See the reminder system blueprint →

Planned blueprint — Wye Valley Surgery

Questions? Contact Dr Krishnan Pasupathi