Frequently asked questions
No, there are currently several ways you can access your outpatient appointment details, letters and other information:
- Via the NHS App – Navigate to the ‘Your health’ section, and find ‘Hospital and specialist documents and questionnaires’. Here you can see your outpatient appointment details, letters and other information online
- Via our digital Patient Hub – We will automatically enrol you onto the digital Patient Hub, and once you login to the service, you will be able to see your outpatient appointment details, letters and other information online
- If you choose not to engage with the NHS app or our digital Patient Hub, the solution will default back to printed letters, and you will receive these through the post. You can also choose to opt out of our digital Patient Hub, and cancel your account following the steps in the question below.
When we make a new outpatient appointment for you, or change an existing outpatient appointment, we will send you a text message with a link to the digital Patient Hub:
- Click on the link, which will take you to the Patient Hub sign-in screen
- Confirm your mobile number and date of birth
- You will then receive a 6-digit authentication code from ‘NHS-NoReply’
- Enter the code once you receive it
Note: Once you receive the authentication code, you have approximately 2 minutes and 30 seconds to submit this. You can however request that the code is resent or a new code provided 3 times, after which you may need to wait 1 minute before requesting a new code or, if the link is disabled, you will need to return to the initial sign in screen and start the sign in process again.
Don’t worry, you can still access the Patient Hub by clicking here.
- Click on the link, which will take you to the Patient Hub sign-in screen
- Confirm your mobile number and date of birth
- You will then receive a 6-digit authentication code from ‘NHS-NoReply’
- Enter the code once you receive it
Note: Once you receive the authentication code, you have approximately 2 minutes and 30 seconds to submit this. You can however request that the code is resent or a new code provided 3 times, after which you may need to wait 1 minute before requesting a new code or, if the link is disabled, you will need to return to the initial sign in screen and start the sign in process again.
We have turned off printed letters for a small number of our services which are available in the Patient Hub:
- If you are a patient cared for by one of these services and engage with our digital solution, you will not receive a printed letter
- If you are a patient cared for by one of these services and chose not to engage with our digital solution, you will receive a printed letter
For the rest of our services, you will continue to receive letters and information about your care by post.
We currently have three modules live in our digital Patient Hub: Appointments (and letters), Questionnaires and Waiting List Validation. As we add more features to the digital Patient Hub, you will be able to see more information about your care.
At the moment we are part way through the rollout of our digital Patient Hub and only some services are available, however we are planning for all outpatient services to be made available over the next few months. As this work progresses, you will be able to use the solution to see information about more of your appointments and care digitally. A list of our services available on the Patient Hub is here.
Yes, you will need to sign into the digital Patient Hub for East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust, in order to see letters and information about your care with us. The link to access the system is here.
You can also access this information via your NHS app by navigating to the ‘Your health’ section, and finding ‘Hospital and specialist documents and questionnaires’.
Patient Hub can be used by anyone aged 18 or over who has an appointment at any of our hospitals, as long as the service has been made available on our digital Patient Hub.
If your mobile number has been added to another patient’s electronic record (which would be the case for someone in your care e.g. your child), you will receive text notifications for any appointments that are booked for them. When signing into the Patient Hub, you will need to use your mobile number and their date of birth. Once these have been verified, you will receive the 6-digit authentication code.
In the case of siblings e.g. twins who share the same date of birth, you will need to enter the 3-letter code contained within the original appointment notification text message before being provided with the 6-digit authentication code.
Information on the digital Patient Hub is available for children under 18. As a parent or guardian you can add your mobile number to your child’s electronic patient record, and receive text notifications for any appointments that are booked for your child.
When signing into the digital Patient Hub, you will need to use your mobile number and their date of birth. Once these have been verified, you will receive the 6-digit authentication code.
In the case of siblings who share the same date of birth, you will need to enter the 3-letter code contained within the original appointment notification text message before being provided with the 6-digit authentication code.
Yes, you can sign in for and view the digital Patient Hub on a computer or tablet using the link here. We will send you a six-digit authentication code by text message from ‘NHS-NoReply’ which can be picked up on a standard mobile phone. Due to the authorisation process, you cannot sign in to for Patient Hub without authorising your account via text message.
If you are unable to sign into our digital Patient Hub you will still receive patient letters and other information via post.
You can choose to not receive text messages via the Profile tile in the Patient Hub. You may however still receive appointment reminders via text message. To stop all text messages, you will need to telephone the booking team using the number at the top of your appointment letter and they will be able to change your contact preferences for you.
Your most recent appointment letter will have full details of the type of appointment you have and any additional instructions. Just find and view the letter on the digital Patient Hub. If you are still unsure, contact the team who are caring for you using the contact details on your appointment letter.
If you see information in the hub about you or your treatment which you think isn’t right, please contact the team or service who are caring for you so that we can correct it. You can find the phone number on your most recent patient letter.
When we add a new service to our Patient Hub, we do this by adding specific clinics within each service. For some of our larger services, this needs to be done gradually. If you are a patient that uses on of the services listed above and you haven’t received a text message about Patient Hub, this may be because you are in a clinic that we have not yet made available on the Patient Hub.
For some of our clinics, you can now cancel appointments and request for them to be rescheduled via the Patient Hub.
To rebook an appointment, login and select the ‘rebook’ button, and then select ‘confirm’. Your appointment will then be cancelled and we will contact you with a new appointment as soon as this has been rebooked.
If you would like to cancel an appointment, select the ‘cancel’ button, and then select ‘confirm’. Your appointment will then be cancelled and will not be rebooked. Please note, that cancelling your appointment will mean that you are discharged from our hospital care, and your referral will be sent back to your referrer, usually your GP. You may need to contact your GP to be provided with another referral. Some patients may have more than one active referral, and the other referrals will not be affected if this occurs.
Patients may be contacted via a text message to confirm or cancel an outstanding referral using the Patient Hub.
Patients waiting over 12 weeks on a Referral To Treatment (RTT) pathway who have not had an appointment in the last 12 weeks and do not have a booked appointment in the next 4 weeks, now have the option to confirm or cancel their referral via our digital Patient Hub.
Patients on a waiting list for an outstanding referral will receive a text message with a link to the digital Patient Hub, which will allow them to be removed from the waiting list if they no longer need the referral, or to remain on the list if they still need their appointment.
Yes. If you choose not to sign-in when we first invite you, you will still receive a text reminder with a link to sign-in and also a new text notification for any future outpatient appointments, unless you choose to opt out of receiving text messages.
If you decide that you no longer wish to use the digital Patient Hub, you can cancel your account by following these steps:
- Log into your account
- Select profile
- Unselect SMS and Email
- Select confirm
- Follow the instructions presented on the screen
If you decide to delete your East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust Patient Hub account, you will also be given an option to stop text messages being sent to you.
If you choose this, you will not receive text appointment reminders and further texts inviting you to re-join the digital Patient Hub when new appointments are scheduled.
Appointment letters and any reminders will all be sent by post, and you will also receive a text confirmation at the end of the process which explains how to opt back into receiving text messages if you change your mind later.
No – Our digital patient administration system (Lorenzo) which stores your patient demographics (e.g. name, date of birth etc.) does not have a field for us to store your patient email address. As our digital Patient Hub speaks to Lorenzo for your patient demographics, we cannot state with confidence that we have your correct email address, therefore cannot make use of patient email addresses in the Patient Hub.
If you choose this, you will not receive text appointment reminders and further texts inviting you to re-join the digital Patient Hub when new appointments are scheduled.
Appointment letters and any reminders will all be sent by post, and you will also receive a text confirmation at the end of the process which explains how to opt back into receiving text messages if you change your mind later.
Yes – You can log in to our digital Patient Hub on any device, including on your computer. The link to log in is here. Once logged in, you can review your appointment letters and print from the system.
Yes – When you click on your appointment to review details, there is a link towards the bottom for you to download a calendar file. You can then add this to your smartphone / mobile device and import into your google calendar etc.
Yes – If you are a user of the NHS app, please navigate to the ‘Your health’ section, and find ‘Hospital and specialist documents and questionnaires’. Here you can see all of your outpatient appointment details, letters and other information online.
Yes – Please login and click on the ‘Appointments’ tile. Previous appointment details, once viewed, will be listed under your current appointments. Once the date has passed, appointments can be viewed under history.
