Texts and emails about your hospital appointments

On the NHS App, patients registered with a GP in England, can update their phone number and email address, and enable push notifications to be sent to their phone with confirmations and reminders for hospital appointments. 

Patients can also view their NBT outpatient appointments through the NHS App.

There are some specialist clinics that do not appear in the NHS App, and for those clinics, usual communication methods will continue to be used to manage appointments.

Clinics that do not appear in the NHS App are:

• Burns Care
• Transient Ischaemic Attack
• Clinical Psychology
• Fracture clinic for T&O
• Cardiac Rehab
• Rheumatology RTC clinics
• Care of the Elderly Rapid access clinics
• Dietetics Coeliac group clinics
• Midwifery diabetes clinics

The video consultation service at North Bristol NHS Trust allows patients to have a video call with their clinician as an alternative to a face-to-face appointment, where clinically appropriate.

When you are invited to a video consultation, you will receive a direct link to your appointment by text message to your UK mobile number or email address, one to two hours before your appointment time.

If you have any questions about your appointment, please call the number provided in your appointment letter. 

Why do we offer video consultations?

Video consultations offer a solution for those who find travelling to the hospital for outpatient clinics difficult or inconvenient. It can save time and money and bring care closer to home.

What to expect

• A video appointment runs in the same way as a normal outpatient appointment you would have in hospital but through your mobile device or computer.
• When you are invited to a video consultation appointment, you will receive a letter including the date and time of your appointment as well as asking you to confirm we have the correct UK based mobile number on our records.
• You may also receive a text message or email confirming the booking and reminder messages prior to the appointment day.
• You will receive a direct link to your appointment by SMS text message to your UK mobile number or your email address one to two hours before your appointment time.
• Please log in ten minutes before your appointment time to familiarise yourself with the DrDoctor app.
• Please know clinics may still run late.
• All messages sent from DrDoctor will be sent from the same mobile number, this will appear from a mobile number +44 7860 039 092. 
  All messages sent from this number are genuine and not a scam. Please note, you cannot reply to this number.
• When you receive the link to your appointment, you will be able to view all the appointment details and the button to 'Join the call' will be inactive.
• An hour before your appointment time, the video call button will become active, so you can press it to gain access to the consultation.

To get the most from the video call, we also ask you to:

• Ensure you have access to a laptop or desktop computer, smartphone, or tablet.
• DrDoctor works on Chrome, Safari and Edge. Please note DrDoctor does not work on Internet Explorer.
• Find a quiet area of your home to have the call.
• Have your questions ready for the clinician as you would do if at hospital.
• Be available for up to 45 minutes after your appointment time should the clinician be running late.​

Any questions?

If you are interested in having video consultations, please speak to the team at North Bristol NHS Trust involved in your care.

What is quick question?

This is the ability for the hospital to send patients a link to a single question. Patients can respond with Yes, No or Unsure, and Hospital staff will take action according to each response.

If you receive a text message from the mobile number +44 7860 039 092 please be assured this number is genuine and is not a scam. Please note, you cannot reply to this number.

What will Quick Question be used for?

Quick Question is used for managing waiting lists and supporting your care needs.

For waiting list management, depending on your response, we will be in touch with you again with further advice and guidance on next steps. Please be assured we will not make any changes to your waiting list status unless we hear from you, and any appointment dates you may already have still stand.  Any comments attached to your response will only be used to manage our waiting lists and therefore might not be reviewed by a clinician.  

Your response will be crucially important to help us manage our waiting lists and your ongoing care.

If you have a worsening medical problem or concern with an existing condition, and are unsure what to do, please contact your usual healthcare provider (e.g. your GP or NHS 111) directly.

When will Quick Question be used?

From Tuesday 31 October, we will be using Quick Question to manage our waiting lists digitally for patients who have been waiting longer than 12 weeks on a referral to treatment pathway.

An SMS text message will come from +44 7860 039 092 with a link to a web portal. Both the number and web address are legitimate and secure.

Any questions?

If you have any queries about the Quick Question functionality, please speak to the team at North Bristol NHS Trust involved in your care.

North Bristol NHS Trust can send a single text message to large groups of patients and/or staff at one time, in relation to events such as a major incident at the Trust or unforeseen clinic cancellation.

Text messages will come form the number +44 7860 039 092 please note this number is genuine and is not a scam. Please note, you cannot reply to this number.

Digital Assessments are structured questionnaires for patients to explain how they are managing their condition and to inform their care. 

If you have any queries about why you have received an assessment form, please use the contact information as provided in the digital assessment invite or please do feel to wait until your appointment to discuss it further with your clinician. 

It will not affect your appointment or care if you’re unable to complete the assessment form.

DrDoctor is a secure platform we are using at North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT) to communicate with our service users digitally, schedule appointments and provide important healthcare information.

You can check and updated your contact details (mobile phone number and email address) through the NHS App, your GP and when you attend your appointment at the hospital. 

Please do not update your contact details through the DrDoctor Portal as it will be overwritten with the information for the NHS digital information from the NHS App, your GP and the hospital. You should also provide your updated details to the reception of the department you are visiting. 

DrDoctor adheres to strict privacy and security standards to protect your information and your data is only accessible to authorised healthcare professionals involved in your care.

Under UK law, you have the right to object to how your personal data is used for specific purposes. This means you can request your data not be used for certain reasons or activities.  

Please note you cannot object solely to the means or methods used to process your data, such as our preferred communication platform called DrDoctor and we are using the data to support your care.

If you choose to opt out of any of the reminders and notifications from DrDoctor, you will not receive any reminders from any service using DrDoctor. When your next appointment is arranged, you will automatically be opted in again as we are using this data to support your care. 

If you have previously used someone else's number on your healthcare record, they will receive communications regarding your care.

For more information on our privacy policy and data protection, please visit our web page - Privacy Policy & Data Protection | North Bristol NHS Trust (nbt.nhs.uk)

DrDoctor is a Digital Patient Engagement Platform the Trust is using to help patients stay up to date with communications about their appointments and care using a digital portal.

Find out more information about DrDoctor. 

Messages from DrDoctor are sent from the mobile number: 

+44 7860 039 092

07860 039 092

07860039092

This number is safe and secure and will send you text messages from NBT, UHBW and AWP.