UHBW hits one million digital appointment letter milestone saving £2.1 million

Pic: Central Outpatients team at Bristol 

University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW) has sent 1,000,000 digital appointment letters to patients, saving an estimated £2.1 million, based on the average cost of an outpatient appointment.

The service, delivered in partnership with digital patient engagement platform DrDoctor, has transformed how the Trust communicates with patients, providing instant, more convenient access to appointment information.

The impact of this digital shift has been significant since its launch in December 2023. The Trust has seen a 1.5% reduction in Did Not Attend (DNA) rates, equivalent to 10,000 saved outpatient appointments, and has seen a substantial reduction in paper usage, contributing to both cost savings and lowering the Trust’s environmental impact.

The digital letter service has continued to grow rapidly at UHBW, with a record 70,000 digital letters sent in April 2025 alone. 76% of patients have shared they prefer to receive their letters digitally.

This achievement forms a key part of UHBW’s digital strategy to deliver digitally enabled, exceptional care. By digitising and consolidating patient communications, the Trust is unlocking new opportunities to optimise and transform its services.

Job Wooster, Outpatient Services Manager at UHBW, said: “It’s wonderful to see the impact our shift to digital patient communications has had over the past 18 months.

“The introduction of digital letters and other services through DrDoctor has enhanced patient experience by supporting our patients to access instant information regarding their appointments.

“We have reduced the number of missed appointments which has improved efficiency, delivered cost savings, and helped lower our environmental impact.”

Pic: Central Outpatients team at Weston 

Philip Kiely, Deputy Chief Operating Officer at UHBW, said: “We made a clear commitment in our five-year digital strategy to deliver digitally enabled, exceptional care, so it’s incredibly rewarding to see those benefits being realised.”

“Additionally, we’d like to thank all our teams here at UHBW, our partners, and most importantly our patients for embracing this change and helping us deliver digitally enabled, exceptional care.”

Digital letters are delivered via text message and email, enabling patients to view and download their appointment letters instantly through DrDoctor, a secure digital patient engagement platform accessible via PC, smartphone or tablet.

The service is available for both adult and paediatric services across the Trust’s Bristol sites and Weston General Hospital.

Additional features available via DrDoctor include video appointments, digital assessments, appointment reminders and appointment rescheduling.

All texts come from the central NHS number 07860 039092, and emails are sent from no-reply@drdoctor.co.uk.

Patients who want to continue to receive paper copies can opt out of the digital service by replying PRINT to their text message notification, or by logging into the patient portal, going to the ‘Settings’ tab, and turning off the paperless option.

More information about the service can be found on the UHBW website.