NHS Notify

Patients increasingly expect digital updates about their healthcare. They want to know:

• When their appointment is booked
• What to expect before and after a consultation
• When their prescription is ready
• If there are any changes to their care

NHS Notify and the NHS App can help meet these expectations — improving patient experience and reducing missed appointments.

NHS Notify allows NHS organisations to send messages to patients by email, text or other secure channels. These messages might over time expand to include:

• Appointment confirmations and reminders
• Updates about prescriptions or services
• Pre-consultation messages
• Follow-up information after a consultation

Messages can be sent automatically from NHS systems, including pharmacy IT systems that are integrated with NHS Notify.

The NHS App gives patients access to their health information, including:

• Prescriptions
• Appointments
• Messages from NHS Notify
• Pharmacy service details

Patients can use the app to manage their care, receive updates, and track their prescriptions — all in one place.

Benefits for patients

• Clear, timely updates about their care
• Fewer missed appointments
• Better understanding of pharmacy services
• More confidence in using digital tools

Benefits for pharmacy teams

• Less time spent chasing patients or rebooking missed appointments
• Better documentation and service tracking
• Stronger digital relationships with patients
• Improved uptake of NHS services

NHS Notify is already being used by many NHS services, and work is underway to expand its use in community pharmacy.

Community Pharmacy England and the Community Pharmacy IT Group (CP ITG) are working with NHS England and IT suppliers to:

• Enable pharmacy systems to send and receive NHS Notify messages
• Ensure pharmacy apps and systems align with NHS standards, such as the Booking and Referral Standards (BaRS)
• Support consistent messaging across the NHS App, pharmacy apps, and NHS Notify
• Promote the use of NHS Digital Services for Integrated Care (DSIC) to help suppliers build and assure these features

This work is part of a wider effort to improve digital services for patients and reduce the administrative burden on pharmacy teams.

To make the most of NHS Notify and the NHS App in pharmacy, we need:

• Integration: Pharmacy IT systems should connect with NHS Notify and NHS App APIs so that messages can be sent and received automatically.
• Standardisation: Notifications should follow NHS-wide formats to ensure a consistent experience for patients, regardless of which pharmacy or app they use.
• Investment: Continued NHS support is needed to fund development and rollout across pharmacy systems.
• Supplier engagement: IT suppliers need clear guidance and support to build these features into their systems.