If you are waiting for a gynaecology or an ororthopaedics appointment, University Hospitals Dorset would like you to respond to their messages as it hopes to tackle long waiting lists.

Over the last two years, many non-emergency operations and procedures across the NHS had to be cancelled or postponed because of Covid-19. The trust says it is working hard to prioritise its lists and will be contacting patients waiting for appointments at the Royal Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch hospitals via text message or letter to obtain further details.

If you receive one of these messages, please respond so the teams can help you with your care. They have some assurances:

• their communication will only ever ask questions relating to your care
• they will never ask for bank details or reference to money or payment
• they will never ask you for your name or address, however you will be able to update your details if they are not correct
• their message will include a unique pin and they will ask you to input your date of birth only to log in
• a business reply address in Macclesfield will be supplied – this is where their team are collating your responses

Jonathan Wright, head of patient access, said: “We know how long some patients have been waiting and we know how hard this can be. We are determined to do everything we can to help work through our waiting list as quickly as possible. Contacting patients digitally will enable us to do this efficiently so please do respond when you receive a message from University Hospitals Dorset.”