Texting, emailing and messaging patients and service users
This guidance covers information governance (IG) topics you need to think about when sending or receiving messages about health and care services by text, email or other types of messaging.
This guidance only applies to messages that are about a person’s individual care. It does not cover messages about other things such as research or fundraising. For more information on sending messages about fundraising, please see NHS England IG guidance on what is and isn’t direct marketing.
Where this guidance talks about contact preferences and objections, it addresses these topics from an IG perspective only. Where individuals have communication needs relating to a disability, impairment or sensory loss, these also need to be considered and are covered in the accessible information standard.
These IG pages provide clear and consistent IG advice and guidance to patients and service users, health and care staff and IG professionals. NHS England convenes a working group to check and challenge the guidance.
Last edited: 7 May 2026 12:50 pm