Writing a message

NHS App message templates

Upload a Word document of your NHS App message and NHS Notify will send it for you.

How to edit your NHS App message using our template

Download our NHS App message template to set up your NHS App message.

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

Formatting your NHS App message

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.

Find out how to use:

You can also find out about:

Personalisation

To add a personalisation field, include a placeholder with double brackets around it. For example:

Information:

Hello ((firstName)), your NHS Number is ((nhsNumber))

Read about the personalisation fields that are available in the Personal Demographics Service (PDS) and how to provide your own personalisation data.

Headings

Use the style ‘Heading 1’ in the template for headings and ‘Heading 2’ for subheadings.

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

Headings have different levels. It’s important to follow a logical heading level order. Your first subheading must come after a heading.

Body text

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

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

For NHS App messages, you can convert text into a link instead of writing the full web address. For example:

Information:

content guide on the NHS service manual

Link text should tell the recipient what action they need to take and where the link goes.

Never use ‘click here’, ‘click link’, ‘this link’ or ‘more’, as these do not make sense when read out of context.

If the recipient is not expecting to receive an email from you, we recommend using the full URL instead of link text. Start with https://. For example:

Information:

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

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

Attachments

We do not currently support sending files as attachments within NHS App messages.

If you need to send an attachment, host the attachment separately on a website and add a link to it in your message content.

Images

We do not currently support images in NHS App messages.

If you need to send an image, host it separately on a website and add a link to it in your message content.