Referrals and appointments newsletter April 2026

We have reached a major milestone with 100% of NHS acute and specialist acute trusts now connected to the NHS App for referrals and appointments. This achievement reflects strong system collaboration and sustained delivery momentum over the past few years. 

Our upcoming 2026/27 national funding process, with a letter from NHS England to NHS regional directors being sent this month, will further support the benefit and impact of referral and appointment management in the NHS App and the NHS e-Referral service (e-RS).

And the rollout of the enhanced Advice and Guidance (A&G) service, with the national launch due from July, will help further improve clinical decision-making, educe unnecessary referrals, and enhance patient experience.

The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust is the first trust in England to integrate patient-initiated follow-up (PIFU) into the NHS App, enabling patients to request follow-up care via the App when it’s needed.

Since launching with supplier Netcall on 10 December, 3,500 patients can view and manage their Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) PIFU pathway directly through the NHS App. There have been 111 digital follow-up requests, with 1 in 4 via the App. There have also been 6 million visits to the App’s PIFU screen.

Rotherham has now gone live with 16 additional specialties in the NHS App, representing 96.5% of their total PIFU volume. The trust is planning to scale to 19 specialties in total this quarter, allowing up to 6,800 patients to manage their PIFU via the NHS App. Learn more about digital PIFU.

Recent go lives

East of England

James Paget University Hospitals - Questionnaires.

East Suffolk and North East Essex - Core Features.

Royal Papworth - Core.

London

Epsom and St Helier - Core, Notifications and Messaging (N&M) and Documents.

Homerton University Hospital - Questionnaires.

Midlands

Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership - Core.

North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare - Core.

The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital - Core.

North East and Yorkshire

County Durham and Darlington - Documents.

North West

The Christie - Core.

The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre - Core and Documents.

Lancashire and South Cumbria - Core.

Manchester University - Core.

South East

Kent and Medway - Core and N&M.

Queen Victoria Hospital - N&M.

South West: Dorset County Hospital - Core.

PEP supplier feature matrices

We have updated the patient engagement portal (PEP) supplier feature matrices, which provide greater clarity on the NHS App features offered by our PEP partners. The matrices - one for acute and specialist trusts and one for mental health trusts - are available on FutureNHS, and are regularly updated to reflect developments and feature enhancements as introduced by PEP suppliers.

Over the coming months, NHS England is introducing a new Advice and Guidance (A&G) service within the NHS e‑Referral Service (e‑RS). The new A&G service has been developed in collaboration with clinicians and admin users, ensuring that GPs and other referrers can obtain timely specialist clinical advice quicker and easier. 

In advance of the national launch scheduled for July 2026 (with the precise date to be confirmed closer to the time), NHS England will engage with controlled pilot sites and designated fast‑follower organisations. National training workshops will form a key component of this initial phase. 

Referrals and Appointments Reference Group - 21 April and 19 May 2026.

2026/27 national funding webinars - 29 April 2026.

Referrals and Appointments Supplier Forum - 12 May 2026.

e-Referral Service (e-RS) Training Forum - 12 May 2026.

Join our FutureNHS workspace.

Access guidance on our services, demos, resources and promotional guidance to support trust and patient communications.

The latest stats on NHS App trust coverage and national service usage.

Find out more about e-RS and A&G.

Contact us at [email protected].