Communication by text message is one of the options open to the Practice to engage with patients.
Patients should be aware that any texts they receive from the Surgery identified as being from “Doctors” will be from the same source as appointment confirmations/reminders and are genuine.
The text could have been sent for a number of reasons. For example, NHS England asks for the blood pressure (BP) of all patients over 45 years to be documented every five years to ensure any at risk patient can be identified. They also ask us to keep records of all patients ethnicity-this helps us provide the right access and care for all patients.
In addition to BP information, for the last six months, the Practice has been attempting to contact patients for many other routine checks including cervical smears, bowel screening, asthma, mental health, shingles, flu etc.
The text route is the most practical, efficient and economical way to contact such a large number of patients as all texts are sent at no cost to the Practice. Some are automatically resent by the telephone system every three days, regardless of the day of the week or any Bank Holidays, until a response from the patient is received.
If any patient is identified to be at risk for any reason, they would be called in for a face-to-face appointment.
Hopefully if you do receive a text, you will understand that it is for your benefit and part of the Practice responsibility to maintain patient’s health to the highest possible standard.
Any patient is free to opt out of this method of communication by advising the Surgery that they do not want to participate.
