The NHS has announced a new set of minimum standards designed to improve how patients are kept informed while waiting for planned care in England, including a requirement for at least three weeks’ notice before new appointments. The changes are aimed at ending what NHS chief executive Sir Jim Mackey described as the unacceptable uncertainty many patients face when trying to find out whether they have even been referred.
Clearer updates for patients waiting for care
Under the new approach, patients will receive confirmation via the NHS App when their GP referral has been accepted by a hospital specialist and they have joined the waiting list. The NHS said those updates may also arrive by text or letter, with the goal of making the referral process easier to follow and less stressful for patients who often need repeated clarification.
The standards also require hospitals to provide regular updates at least every 12 weeks while patients are waiting. Those check-ins are intended to ask whether a person’s condition has changed, while also offering self-care advice and guidance on what to do if symptoms worsen. If an appointment has to be rescheduled at short notice, hospitals will be asked to ensure a new invitation is sent within 28 days.
A wider push to modernise patient experience
The NHS said the reforms are part of a broader drive to improve patient experience, alongside efforts to reduce waiting times and make care more coordinated. The service is also preparing to appoint its first national director of patient experience, a role intended to support wider changes in how the public interacts with NHS services.
Sir Jim said the changes would help move the NHS away from systems that leave patients chasing information and toward what he called a more straightforward, customer-service style approach. Health and Social Care Secretary James Murray said the measures represented the “floor” of what patients should already expect, not the ceiling, and linked them to wider digital plans such as connecting trusts to the NHS App and introducing a Single Patient Record.
Accountability and consistency across trusts
The guidance was developed with input from patient and carer organisations including Carers Trust, Carers UK, Healthwatch England, National Voices, the Patient Safety Commissioner, Picker, The King’s Fund, The Patients Association and The Richmond Group of Charities. NHS trusts will now be asked to publish an annual summary of their performance against the eight standards, with the aim of improving transparency and consistency across the country.
Healthwatch England welcomed the publication of the standards, saying they sent a clear signal that patient experience matters as much as waiting times. The organisation warned, however, that the real test will be whether trusts can deliver the changes in practice and reduce the burden on patients who have long had to chase appointments and updates.
The NHS says the reforms are intended to improve both care and efficiency, and to make the patient journey smoother from referral through to follow-up. The new standards have already been circulated to providers of planned NHS care, with the service urging trusts to put them into practice as soon as possible.
Separately, NICE has published a draft guideline for polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome, or PMOS, recommending earlier diagnosis and annual reviews for people living with the condition. The proposal says reviews should cover symptoms, medicines use and long-term risks such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, reflecting a broader push toward earlier intervention and more consistent care for patients with complex long-term conditions. ([england.nhs.uk](https://www.england.nhs.uk/2026/07/nhs-to-overhaul-patient-communications-and-end-farce-of-invitations-arriving-after-appointment/))
