Important Changes to Patient Correspondence
Dear Partners,
East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT) is moving to a ‘Digital by Default’ approach for eligible patients. This means correspondence will be sent digitally where appropriate, unless the patient has chosen to opt out and receive correspondence by post.
Patient choice remains central to this change. Patients who prefer postal correspondence can inform their ELFT service, who will record their communication preference within the relevant Electronic Patient Record (EPR).
To support this change, it is important that patient information is kept accurate and up to date. We ask GP and ICB colleagues, where possible, to ensure that their patients’ email addresses, mobile numbers, postal addresses and communication preferences are correctly recorded and updated when changes are identified.
This will help ensure patients receive correspondence through the appropriate channel, if they have been referred into an ELFT service.
The rollout of default email correspondence will take place in various phases, with phase one beginning in Autumn 2026. The below services will not be included in phase one, and will be completely unaffected at this stage:
- Children’s Services
- Older People’s Services
- Forensic Services
- Learning Disability Services
In total, there will be three phases of the rollout. The Trust aims to conduct phase two and three in the first half of 2027, with further details provided in due course.
Maintaining high-quality patient demographic data will help improve the reliability of digital communications, reduce delays caused by incorrect contact information, and support a smoother experience for patients across health services.
We appreciate your continued support and partnership in helping us improve the quality and efficiency of patient communications.
Further information can be found on our website news item: https://www.elft.nhs.uk/news/e-letters.
If you have any further questions, do feel free to contact us at elft.communications@nhs.net.