The Royal Devon has moved to a ‘digital by default’ approach to outpatient appointment letters to respond to patient feedback and reduce the Trusts environmental impact.

From February, patients who use MY CARE, the service that gives patients a view of their Royal Devon medical information and appointments in one place, will receive their Royal Devon outpatient appointment information through MY CARE and not through the post.

This update is a response to patient feedback through PALS and the MY CARE helpdesk. Patients have explained that they want to receive appointment information through MY CARE and not through the post.

Digital communication methods won’t work for everyone and so existing services will remain in place for those who need it.

Royal Devon send out about 2 million letters to patients every year. Phil Luke, Director of Transformation explains, ‘There will be huge benefits to giving patients choice about how they want communications about their care.

‘By switching to digital letters through MY CARE we can dramatically reduce the amount of paper waste and cut down on carbon emissions, which will lessen our environmental impact and is a step towards our goal to achieve net zero carbon emissions.’

This change will also make care more cost effective. It is estimated that the reduction in print and post will save £967,000 over two years, which means more money to spend on direct patient care.

Under the new system patients with an active MY CARE account will be notified about any new appointment information in MY CARE by text message and/or email depending on their individual communication preferences. Patients will need to click the link in their text message or email, to view their full appointment information.

Getting hospital appointment information is important, so there is also a back-up to digital communications. If patients don’t click the link or open the appointment letter in MY CARE within a certain time-frame, then they will receive the information by phone or post.

To find out more about this change, signing up to your MY CARE account or getting help with MY CARE or updating your communication preferences, please click here.