Q2 2026
Thursday 16th April 2026 |
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Feature updates
1. Support for Australian national identifiers
We now support the Australian national identifiers ‘Medicare Number’ and ‘IHI (Individual Healthcare Identifier)’. To see a full list of identifiers, please see our dev wiki.
2. Updated consent options
We have updated consent screens to include additional justification criteria for non-clinical activity. This is to enable professionals and coordinators to document their justification for accessing a record when doing clinical audits or data quality reviews.
3. Removal of validation for Canadian national identifiers
We have removed all but minimal validation for all Canadian national and provincial identifiers because these identifiers are already validated by source systems. To see a list of Canadian provincial and national identifiers and the validation applied to each, please see our dev wiki.
4. Documents shown inline on messages should open inline by default
We’ve updated the messaging experience so that when you navigate to a message containing a document, the document now opens inline automatically. This removes the extra step of having to click to open the document, making it faster and more intuitive for users to view important attachments right away.
Bug fixes
1. Message thread titles
Message thread titles in Events & Messages now support ampersands (&).
2. Prevent acceptance of non-finite numeric test result values via HL7, and handle these during FHIR migration
We’ve updated the system to reject HL7 messages that contain non-finite numeric test result values such as infinity or NaN. These values, which can occur due to mathematical anomalies like division by zero, are now explicitly blocked and will trigger a clear error message. This ensures that only valid, meaningful test results are accepted and displayed, improving data quality and preventing confusion for users. Results with these values can still be sent in textually.
3. New error message on consent screens
We have fixed an issue where professionals could click ‘Next’ without selecting an item when using ‘Ask for access’, which resulted in an error page. Users are now kept on the same page and shown an error message.
Tuesday 7th April 2026 |
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New Features
We have replaced the existing NHS App notification workflow in which patients currently receive native smartphone notifications from the NHS App when there are new messages for them in PKB.
PKB now sends both an NHS App message and an associated native Apple or Android push notification.
These notifications & messages are sent for the key message types, which are:
Documents
Advanced Questionnaires
New messages from professionals
The new workflow mirrors that of the existing appointment Notification & Message workflow, and each message includes a link to view the new document, questionnaire or message in PKB.
This uplift means patients now receive a permanent message in the NHS App containing a link to the corresponding activity in PKB, rather than only a temporary push notification. This improvement makes it easier for patients to find and return to important information, even if they miss or dismiss the initial notification.
User Journey
Patients receive a message in their NHS App message inbox alongside an associated push notification.
Clicking on the push notification will take the user through the authentication process to open the NHS app and then go straight to the message in the NHS App Messaging inbox.
The message contains information on the type of update received and a link to view the document, questionnaire or message from a professional.
Clicking on the link will take the user to the document, questionnaire or message in PKB.
NHS App Message
NHS Screen diverting to PKB
Message inside PKB
You can read more about accessing PKB via the NHS App on our Wiki: NHS App & NHS Login
Thursday 2nd April 2026 |
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Feature updates
1. Accessibility updates
We have added enhanced accessibility features to the events and messages page. We’ve introduced accessible card lists across key pages such as appointments, inbox, and measurements. These updates ensure that card lists can now be used seamlessly with screen readers, making the platform more inclusive for users who rely on assistive technology.
On the Events & Messages page, attachment and unread indicators are now announced for screen readers, and the pagination state is clearly communicated. Pagination controls have updated aria-labels for improved navigation, making it easier for users with assistive technologies to move between message sets.
2. Homepage button change
To prioritise space for key actions on the home screen, the ‘Invite professional’ button has been removed from the patient homepage. The ‘Add an individual’ button remains available under Sharing > Professionals.
3. ‘Send message’ button change
Patients will only see the ‘Send message’ button on the homepage and Events & messages page if they have carers or are in teams with contactable professionals. This is so that patients do not see the button if they have nobody that they can message.
Bug fixes
1. Individual professional invitation delivery failures caused by "%" character
We have resolved an issue where patients were unable to send individual professional invitations if their message included the '%' character. Previously, using this character would cause the invitation email to fail. Now, invitations containing '%' are sent successfully.
2. Language selection not preserved for all languages
We have fixed an issue where the language would revert to English or French users after logging out when ‘English – Canada’ or ‘French – Canada’ were selected.