Writing a message

Letter templates

Upload a PDF of your letter and NHS Notify will print and post it for you.

Your PDF must meet our letter specification. The page size and layout is A4 portrait (210 x 297mm).

You’ll need to:

  1. Download our Microsoft Word template.
  2. Format your letter.
  3. Convert your letter to a PDF.

How to use our letter template

Your Word document must meet our letter specification. The page size and layout is A4 portrait (210 x 297mm).

Download the relevant letter template to set up your letter:

You’ll need the desktop Microsoft Word app.

You can save the template and edit it with your message content.

Formatting your letter

Do not edit the page margins in the letter template. It has the correct formatting and layout for printing.

Organise your message content using the styles in the template.

If you’re copying and pasting text from another document, paste it without any formatting. Then apply the styles in the template.

You can also use Microsoft Word’s format painter to copy the formatting of the styles and apply it to your text.

Information:

Keep the comments and pre-formatted text in the template until you’ve finished adding your message content. They’ll help you to apply the styles.

Find out how to use:

You can also find out about content you should not edit, including the:

Font and font size

The font size for standard letters is 12 points. The font size for large print is 16 points.

NHS Notify prints letters in the font Noto Sans.

Downloading your font

You must download and use Noto Sans as the font for all of your letters, including letters in other languages. If you’re sending letters in other languages that use different character sets, download Noto Sans in those languages.

Go to Noto Sans on Google Fonts and choose the languages you need by selecting ‘Get font’. Then select ‘Download all’ to download Noto Sans to your device as a zip file.

Noto Sans is a free font.

For Windows

  1. Right click the zip file and select ‘Extract all’.
  2. Open the file. Open each folder. Select all of the TrueType font files, right click and select ‘Install’.
  3. If the folder contains a sub-folder called ‘static’, open this.
  4. Select all of the TrueType font files in this folder. Right click and select ‘Install’.

For Mac

Follow the install fonts guidance. Make sure you install the static fonts.

Read Google’s guidance on installing fonts for more information.

Noto Sans should now be available in Microsoft Word.

Personalisation

You can personalise your letters by adding personalisation fields. Learn how to use personalisation.

Headings

Use the style ‘Heading 2, NHS letter heading’ in the template for headings.

Headings are in bold. They are not in italics or underlined.

Use the main heading to summarise what your letter is about.

Use headings to break your content up and to help recipients find what they need.

Paragraphs and body text

Use the style ‘Normal’ in the template for body text.

Paragraphs can be split across 2 pages.

If you do not want a paragraph to run over different pages, add a page break before the paragraph.

Use the style ‘Hyperlink’ in the template for links.

Write links in full, starting with https://. For example:

Information:

https://www.service-manual.nhs.uk/content

Links in letters are in bold to make them stand out. Do not use underlined text or italics.

Do not split links across different pages. Add a page break before the paragraph with the link if needed.

Short URLs

If you have a long, complex web address, you can request a short URL from GOV.UK. This can take some time and may delay your template creation.

We do not recommend using a third-party link shortening service because:

  • your users cannot see where the link will take them
  • your link might stop working if there’s a service outage
  • you can no longer control where the redirect goes

Bullet points

Use the style ‘List paragraph’ in the template for bullet points.

You can use bullet points to make your text easier to read. Make sure that:

  • you use a lead-in line
  • the bullets make sense running on from the lead-in line
  • you use lower case at the start of the bullet
  • there are no commas, full stops or semicolons at the end of bullets

Images

Images must be black and white. Position them within the same page margins as the text.

QR codes

If you want to include a QR code, put it in the body of your letter. Insert it as an image.

You’ll need to generate the QR code yourself.

You must also provide a short URL or written instructions for how to find your webpage. For example:

Information:

scan the QR code or visit https://www.notify.nhs.uk

Content you should not edit

Address field

The address field fits inside the address window on the envelope.

The address is a personalisation field and is set automatically.

The recipient’s name is always included as the first line of the address.

If your letter is about a child, use the parent or guardian letter template. This template includes ‘Parent or guardian of’ in the first line of the address.

The NHS logo is black and white. It’s positioned in the top right of the letter.

NHS number

The recipient’s NHS number appears above the body content of the letter and is right aligned.

It’s a personalisation field and is set automatically.

Date

The date that will be printed is the date when the letter is dispatched. It’s set automatically.

It appears above the body content of the letter and is right aligned.

Page count

The page count shows the current page number and the total number of pages. For example:

Information:

Page 1 of 2

It updates automatically.

Converting your letter to a PDF

When you’ve finished editing your template in Microsoft Word, you’ll need to save it as a PDF.

Before you start, check that your English message content is in the Noto Sans font and any message content in other languages is in the relevant language variant of the Noto Sans font.

  1. In the ‘Review’ tab, go to ‘Markup’. Select ‘No markup’ from the drop-down list to hide any comments or tracked changes.
  2. Select ‘File’ and ‘Save as’. Select ‘PDF’ from the drop-down list.
  3. For Windows, select ‘Standard (publishing online and printing)’ in the ‘Optimize for’ section. Then select ‘Save’. For Mac, select ‘Best for printing’ in the ‘File format’ section. Then select ‘Save’.

Naming your PDF

Name your PDF template clearly so that it’s easy to identify. Make sure you include the following details:

  • organisation or service name
  • cohort or topic of your message
  • language used, including English
  • accessible format or standard format used
  • message channel - letter
  • version number

For example:

Information:

vaccinations_under-16_english_standard_letter_v1