Knutsford Medical Partnership

The NHS has asked that all surgeries move to more digital and modern ways to practice and deliver healthcare. As part of this, practices have been encouraged to embrace more digital ways of communication including: 

· Text messages 

· Video calls 

· Email communication 

· Use of the NHS App 

We have been early adopters of more digital routes of communications and have recognised the importance of keeping patients informed and maintaining good communication. Up until now we have done this through the use of text messages. 

However, the cost of SMS messages is high and the NHS spends millions of pounds on SMS text messages each year.  Unfortunately, from the 1st April 2026, funding for text messages will be significantly reduced across all practices in Cheshire, and we will need to look at new ways of communicating with patients. 

We are proposing adopting the following order of priority in communicating with patients: 

1. Initial contact by email 

2. Contact via NHS App where email isn’t available 

3. Contact by SMS where NHS App contact isn’t available 

For patients who have none of the above contact options we will attempt to call on landline numbers available or contact by post. 

To help facilitate these plans for future communication we would ask all patients to consider the following: 

Emails. 

Ensure we have email contact details for you if relevant and be mindful that future messages will come via email. 

If you have a shared email which may be on multiple patient accounts, consider making separate accounts. 

NHS App. 

Consider downloading the NHS App and ensuring that notification settings activated. 

The NHS App has many useful functions besides receiving practice messages, including: 

· Ability to access your medical record 

· Ability to order your prescriptions online, even when the practices is closed. 

· Ability to book appointments online 

Please note if a message isn’t successfully delivered or read by you, our messaging provider will automatically send a ‘fallback’ message via another channel, such as SMS, to ensure you receive the message. 

We would like to reassure you that as a practice we will continue to do our best to support patients and ensure they receive the care they need once these changes are implemented from April.