We’re making an update on Wednesday 24 September that reduces the number of letters we send to patients.

The new features will mean that patients that use MY CARE (the patient app and online service that gives patients access to their Royal Devon medical information) will get extra reminders about their outpatient appointments by text or email. Patients with a MY CARE account will no longer get letters through the post about outpatient appointments unless they’ve set their communication preferences to receive letters.

This update aims to reduce the number of letters patients receive by post and make it easier for patients to manage their appointments.

The new features are part of an ongoing project to go digital with patient letters. In February 2024 we made the switch so that patients who use MY CARE primarily get their outpatient appointment information digitally. This change has resulted in sending over half a million fewer patient letters. Saving over 1 million sheets of paper and making the Trust more sustainable.

There’s still much more work to be done. Over the coming months we will be looking at going digital with other letters including outcome letters, after visit summaries and letters inviting patients to come in for surgery.

If patients have MY CARE, or are signing up to MY CARE, and would still like to receive appointment letters through the post, then they simply need to set their communication preferences to opt-in to post. You can find more information about setting and updating your communication preferences in the guidance and FAQs here.

The new MY CARE features going live on Wednesday 24 September are:

Digital appointment reminders

Patients who get their outpatients appointments through MY CARE will no longer get fall-back letters through the post. Instead we’re introducing a text message or email reminder that will prompt you to login to MY CARE to view your appointment details.  

Originally there was a post ‘fall-back’, where patients who didn’t open the appointment in MY CARE would be sent a letter by post. However, patients fed back that they didn’t want additional paper letters.

Appointment confirmation

In the Visits page you can now click a ‘Confirm’ button to let us know that you are planning on attending a future appointment.

Pre- appointment information and tasks

Some services send pre-appointment information and ask patients to complete pre-appointment tasks.

You will receive a text or email reminder a week before your appointment with a link to complete your pre-appointment tasks in MY CARE. 

Please note: You may wish to update your communication preferences to make sure you receive these notifications by text, email or both. To do this please go to: Comms preferences. Select ‘appointments’ > ‘advanced settings’, then scroll down to ‘pre-appointment information’.

Appointment cancellation requests (Northern services only)

We are testing cancellation requests for some outpatient appointments in Northern services.

If your appointment is part of the pilot then you will see a ‘request cancellation’ button under ‘visits’. This will be available up to 48 hours before the appointment time.

A message will be sent to your booking team who will contact you to cancel and rearrange the appointment.