Contact Us | Press Office | About Us | International | Vaccines | Donate
Share this article
27th Jun 2022
From Wednesday 22nd June 2022, Alder Hey will send patient letters via a text message to your mobile.
We will send you a text message with a link, allowing you to view and download your letter on your mobile phone. The text message will look like the below example:
PLEASE NOTE: This new way of receiving appointment letters is not in place for all services. As such, you may still continue to receive physical appointment letters through the post for the timebeing.
This new way of receiving an appointment letter will mean that patients will be able to view all their appointment details on their smartphone, tablet or computer, rather than receiving this via a physical letter. You will also have the option of viewing and interacting with all Alder Hey correspondence via a secure, online Patient Portal.
Parents of children and young people who have a mobile phone number registered with Alder Hey, will be sent their letter digitally from 22nd June 2022.
However, if your digital letter is not accessed within 24 hours or no mobile number is held with the hospital, then a postal letter will be automatically sent.
The provider of our digital letters is Healthcare Communication.
This new way of accessing your appointment letters will provide many benefits including:
The system is safe and secure and can only be accessed with the PIN and the patients’ date of birth. As well as the appointment date and time, letters may also include any pre-assessment instructions, essential reading and hospital information as attachments. Watch the below video for more information.
If you don’t access your letter within 24 hours of receiving the text message, the system will automatically generate a physical letter to be sent to you in the post. You’ll also automatically receive a letter after three unsuccessful login attempts to the portal. If you need help with any technical issues on the portal, please call 0845 9000 890 or email support@healthcomm.uk.
You will still receive a text message but won’t be able to access the portal link. Don’t worry though, a hard copy of the letter will automatically be sent to your home address.
If we have your up-to-date mobile phone number, you don’t need to do anything, you’ll be automatically opted in to receiving digital appointment letters. If your details have changed, please call the number on your letter with your full name, date-of-birth and postcode or your NHS number if you know it so we can update your records.
There is an option to add the appointment to your phone calendar when you open the digital letter. You can also register for the patient portal, to view all your previous letters in one place – just click "register" at the top right hand corner once you’ve opened the letter. We will also continue to send you appointment reminder text messages ahead of your appointment.
You can opt out of receiving the digital letters by messaging STOP to text message reminders. However, you are unable to opt out of receiving paper copies to your registered address.
You can view accessibility functionality in the top right-hand corner of the page. Features include; translating your appointment letter to a chosen language, creating an MP3 file, text highlighting tool, and text magnifier to allow increased text size.
The system is secure – you need to put your date of birth and the pin from the text message in to be able to access your appointment letter.
A unique weblink is generated for each portal invitation, that is secure and encrypted. Once accessed, the link will redirect you to the portal, where the encrypted identifier is decrypted and used to obtain the fields which are to be displayed for verification. If you are registered with the portal, you access it via a secure site.
You will be able to see all of your communications in one place, rather than having a separate log in for each communication. It allows you to build up a library of documents relating to your attendances.
If you haven’t viewed your digital letter within 24/48 hours, a physical letter will be sent to you.
Alder Hey Children's Charity