Gov.notify for sending text messages (SMS)

Patients Know Best (PKB) can send SMS messages on behalf of organisations.

• PKB sends SMS using the http://GOV.UK Notify service which offers up to 30,000 free text messages per year, per service.

• Organisations are responsible for SMS costs and must use their own Gov Notify account for this integration. 

PKB can send SMS to unregistered patients when:

1. Your organisation sends a new referral letter, the SMS will prompt the user to register for their record. The addition directly supports the NHS eMeet and Greet initiative as well as encouraging overall platform registration.

2. Your organisation sends an Advanced Questionnaire, the SMS will prompt the patient to complete it.

How to set up a Gov.UK Notify account

1. To use this feature, the organisation must register for a Gov.Notify account and then link a service to PKB from this account. http://GOV.UK offers up to 30,000 free text messages per year, per service.

2. Visit the http://GOV.UK Notify Website:

3. Create an Account: Look for the option to sign up or create an account. You'll need to provide some basic information like your email address and create a password.

4. Verify Your Email: After signing up, you’ll receive an email to verify your email address. Click on the verification link in the email to confirm your account.

5. Set Up Your Organisation: Once your account is verified, you'll need to set up your organisation within the Notify dashboard. This involves providing details about your organisation and agreeing to terms and conditions.

6. Set up your services. Each service can send up to 30,000 SMS for free per financial year. You can monitor usage in the ‘Usage’ tab.

   1. Each trigger should be mapped to a different service (ie one service for Referral letters and another for Advanced Questionnaires).

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How to set up your organisation for SMS

1. Select a service for sending SMS via PKB

2. Add a member of PKB staff to their account to configure the SMS settings by clicking ‘Invite a team member’, adding the nominated PKB staff member and skip to step 9.

   1. If organisations would rather configure this themselves, they should continue to step 3.

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3. Select the service you wish PKB to send SMS from.

4. Retrieve the Service ID from the URL, for example: https://www.notifications.service.gov.uk/services/9r9999rw-rwrw-99r9-9rwr-999999rw99r9/service-settings = ServiceID: 9r9999rw-rwrw-99r9-9rwr-999999rw99r9

5. Go to templates & add a new template for each message type (ie Advanced Questionnaire, Referral letter)

   1. Message: ((smsContent))

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6. Go to settings 

   1. Set the sender ID (You can use organisation name or PKB, 11 character limit)

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   2. Decide whether you want to start text messages with the service name '(Be aware of the character count as if very long, you will be charged for 2 messages.)

      1. Using the service name is mandatory for sending Advanced Questionnaire SMS.

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7. Go to API integration

   1. Click ‘Create new API key’

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      Screen to create an API key

   2. Name this API Key (example - PKB SMS)

   3. Click ‘Live - Send to anyone’ & Click ‘Continue’

   4. Take screenshot & copy API key to send to PKB

8. You will need to send the following items securely to PKB:

   1. Template ID (& a screenshot of this from the Gov.notify system)

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   2. Service ID (& a screenshot of the URL you retrieved it from from the Gov.notify system)

   3. Sender ID (& a screenshot of this from the Gov.notify system)

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   4. API Key (& a screenshot of this from the Gov.notify system)

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9. PKB then can insert this information into our database & configure the service on our side. Please note this will not be switched on & made live until all parties are ready.

10. Once all parties are ready, PKB can enable the SMS workflow through the organisation configuration screen. This will allow SMS messages to be sent to all unregistered patients aged 16 and over with a mobile number on record when a referral letter is added to their record from your organisation

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SMS triggers

SMS trigger for referral letter

PKB will only send SMS notifications for new referrals if all the following conditions are met: 

1. The organisation has enabled the SMS referral flow 

2. The organisation sent a new referral letter to the patient via HL7 (HL7 MDM T02 with the document type in TXA-2 marked as RL (Referral letter))

3. The patient’s record has a mobile number but the patient has not registered.

SMS trigger for Advanced Questionnaires

1. The organisation has enabled the SMS Advanced Questionnaire flow 

2. The organisation sent a new Advanced Questionnaire to the patient

3. The patient’s record has a mobile number but the patient has not registered.

SMS will not be sent if:

1. The patient is under 16

2. The patient has requested to be marked as ‘Do Not Contact’

3. The patient’s record is ‘Frozen’.

4. The patient is marked as deceased

Out of hours

If a trigger for SMS is received during unsociable hours (10pm - 6am) the SMS will be queued to be sent after 6am. Unsociable hours are based on the recorded time zone of the user in PKB.

SMS content

SMS content for referral letter

When an unregistered user receives a referral letter, if they have a mobile number on their record, they will be sent the following SMS: Referral received in your Patients Know Best record. Register: https://patientsknowbest.com/register

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SMS notification

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SMS message

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Registration link

• ‘NHS Test' will be replaced with your chosen sender name (11 chars or less)

• ‘North Southern NHS Trust’ is where your Service name will appear if you have switched this setting ON.

SMS content for new Advanced Questionnaires

When an unregistered user receives an Advanced Questionnaire, if they have a mobile number on their record, they will be sent the following [Notify Service name]: would like you to answer these questions to help them manage your care. Click here to complete the questionnaire: [LINK]

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SMS notification

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SMS message

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Questionnaire link

• ‘Example NHS' will be replaced with your chosen sender name (11 chars or less)

• ‘North Southern NHS Trust’ is where your ‘Service name’ will appear, this setting is required for the Questionnaire SMS.

Adding additional content to SMS templates

Organisations can add additional content to SMS messages.

You cannot change the main content that is inside the basic sms content but you can add content such as a link to your website or phone number at the end of the message.

Please be mindful that any content added will likely increase the SMS content and therefore likely increase the cost from Gov.notify of the SMS sent.

Gov.notify SMS message charge

Signs and symbols

The following signs and symbols count as 2 characters each:
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