Appointment reminders and online portal

Northern Care Alliance has partnered with DrDoctor to provide outpatients with an appointment reminder and rescheduling service via a text message and online service. This is designed to make it easier for you to manage your appointments at our hospitals and clinics. This service is currently being implemented across the Trust.

If we have your mobile number, you will receive appointment reminders by text message.

If we only have your landline, you will receive appointment reminders by voice message.

In many cases you will be able to request to change or cancel your appointment by text message, or by logging into the online patient portal, unless your appointment is within the following three days of receipt.

Online patient portal

Get online by following the link in your text messages or by visiting nhs.my/pat

Once online you can:

  • View appointment details
  • View location information, including google maps and floor plans
  • View important clinic information, this may include leaflets and videos
  • Add your appointment to your personal calendar
  • Request to change of cancel your appointment in some circumstances.

How to log in

  • Click on the link in your text message or visit my/pat
  • Insert your name, date of birth and postcode.
  • We’ll send a one-time code to your number to verify it is you. Enter this into the webpage.

Why are we doing this?

  • Better patient experience and choice
  • Reducing the number of unattended appointments
  • Reducing waiting times

Digital Letters 

How to view your digital letter 

  1. We’ll send you a text message when you have a new digital letter to view online
  2. Click the nhs.my link in your text message to go to your secure patient portal 
  3. Click ‘View letter’ and log in with your Last name, date of birth and postcode 
  4. View and download your new digital letter online as a PDF. Your letters will be stored here for future reference 
  5. You can login from any device by visiting nhs.my/pat. When using a different device, we will send a code to your mobile phone number for security. 

How to receive paper letters

Patients who prefer paper letters can still receive their letters by post as usual.

We will automatically send you a paper letter if you don’t view your digital letter.

If you want to view your letter online and receive a paper letter by post, you can request a paper letter by:

  1. Logging into your secure patient portal, going to the ‘Settings’ tab in the top right, and turn off the paperless option
  2. Reply PRINT to your text message notifying you that you have a new digital letter

Why are we introducing digital letters?

We are introducing digital letters to allow us to:

  • Let you view you letters quickly and easily
  • Reduce confusion from lost letters or letters arriving in the wrong order
  • Save the NHS money by reducing the amount of paper and stamps we are using
  • Reduce our environmental impact 

It is advisable that you do not use a shared mobile number or email address as your confidential health information will be available to others to view.

To read how we use, share & protect your personal information please view our privacy pages for more details www.pat.nhs.uk.

DrDoctor is accredited to the highest standards set by the NHS for protecting the healthcare information of UK citizens. For more information, see the DrDoctor privacy policy.