Referrals and appointments newsletter August 2026

Welcome to the August edition.

We continue to make progress towards a more connected and seamless experience for patients, with more people able to access and manage their care digitally and increasing adoption of NHS App and e-RS services across England.

This month, we share the latest developments across the NHS App and NHS e-Referral Service, including digital patient initiated follow-up (PIFU), NHS App direct integration and recent trust go-lives. You'll also find new resources, upcoming events and practical updates to support local implementation and adoption.

Thank you for your continued support and for helping to improve referrals and appointments across the NHS.

At North Bristol NHS Trust, automated assessment scoring through NHS App questionnaires released more than 16 hours of clinical capacity across 985 assessments, allowing staff to spend more time supporting patients and less time on administration.

The trust is also providing appointment letters and documents through the NHS App, which has reduced printing and postage costs and is reducing administrative effort by up to 30 minutes each week.

Visit our FutureNHS Impact page for more information on the impact of our services for patients, staff and providers.

Recent NHS trust go-lives in the NHS App.

London

Royal Free – View appointments (Phlebotomy) 

Midlands

The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital - Documents

North East and Yorkshire

County Durham and Darlington - Patient Initiated Follow-up (PIFU)

Digital Patient Initiated Follow-up (PIFU) in the NHS App continues to scale across the NHS, with funding provided this financial year for 13 trusts to implement patient engagement portal (PEP)-enabled PIFU and two trusts earmarked for National Digital PIFU. Most recently, County Durham and Darlington went live with PEP-enabled PIFU, enabling eligible patients to request follow-up appointments through the NHS App when they need further support.

Early findings from Rotherham are demonstrating how PEP-enabled PIFU can support patient choice, improve access to follow-up care and reduce unnecessary routine appointments. We also look forward to welcoming Ashford and St Peter's as the first National PIFU site.

Guidance, resources and implementation support are available through the PIFU Toolkit on FuturesNHS.

NHS England is expected to introduce changes to e-RS file attachments from 21 August 2026,including new attachment status indicators and enhanced security features. Organisations using Robotic Process Automation (RPA) should review, test and update affected processes before release to avoid disruption.

Read more about the attachment changes on the e-RS webpage. Information on INT access registration is available on the NHS England website. For support, contact [email protected].

Work continues on NHS App Direct Integration, which will enable participating trusts to connect their electronic patient record (EPR) systems directly with NHS App appointment services.

The first participating trusts have now been identified to help shape and test the initial functionality, with development underway for appointment viewing. Work is also progressing on the onboarding approach that will support future adopters. 

We expect to share further information, guidance and implementation resources over the coming months through a dedicated FutureNHS workspace.

Access key Referrals and Appointments resources, including guidance, FAQs, reporting, dashboards and implementation support, all in one place. Explore the Self Service Toolkit on FutureNHS.

Referrals and Appointments Supplier Forum - 8 September - FuturesNHS

e-RS Training Forum - 15 September - National training forum - NHS e-Referral Service (e-RS)

Referrals and Appointments Reference Group - 15 September - FutureNHS

Join our FutureNHS workspace. 

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