Letters in other languages
NHS Notify allows you to message patients and members of the public using other languages, including their matching character sets.
Language (A to Z)
NHS Notify can support any languages and character sets that are listed in the Personal Demographics Service (PDS).
Languages and character sets we support
- Albanian
- Arabic
- Bengali
- Bulgarian
- Chinese (simplified)
- French
- German
- Greek
- Gujarati
- Hindi
- Hungarian
- Italian
- Kurdish
- Latvian
- Lithuanian
- Nepali
- Persian
- Polish
- Portuguese
- Punjabi
- Russian
- Romanian
- Slovak
- Somali
- Spanish
- Tamil
- Turkish
- Urdu
You can request additional languages, as long as they’re in PDS. We’ll need to test these languages so make sure you leave enough time for this.
How to send letters in other languages
Create your templates
You’re responsible for translating your message content. NHS Notify does not offer a translation service.
Create your messages using the ‘standard letter’ template type.
Include both the English version and the translated version in a single template.
The letter will be on double-sided paper.
Aim to keep your message content to 2 double-sided sheets to save costs. This will include:
- the English version on one double-sided sheet
- the translation on another double-sided sheet
We’ll check for recipients who need letters in other languages
NHS Notify checks for recipients who need letters in other languages using the Personal Demographics Service (PDS).
You need to decide whether to message recipients based on their access or language needs.
You can decide whether to message recipients based on their language preferences.
We’ll only send the letter in the other language if:
- you’ve created a template in the other language that matches
- PDS confirms they need messages in this language
We’ll send the letter in English if you’ve not given us the translation, even if PDS says recipients need messages in other languages.