The Patient Letter feature lets you compose a professional referral letter, attach relevant files and clinical notes, generate a branded PDF, and email it directly to the patient all from within the referral. This keeps all patient communication connected to the referral record, making it easy to track what was sent and when.
Step 1: Navigating to the Patient Letter Tab
Open the referral you want to work with.
Click the Patient Letter tab: this is the 4th tab along the top of the referral page.
The page is divided into two areas: the main content editor on the left where you compose the letter, and the sidebar on the right where you manage PDF settings and sending options.
Step 2: Composing the Letter
Click into the content editor on the left to begin writing your letter.
Use the rich text formatting toolbar to style your content — apply headings, bold text, bullet lists, and more.
To insert a pre-built document template, click the Insert button. Select a template from the list and it will be inserted into the editor. Placeholders in the template (such as patient name, referral date, and recipient details) will automatically be filled in with the relevant information.
Edit and customise the inserted content as needed to suit this particular patient.
Note: You can create referral-specific document templates in Settings with placeholders for commonly used letter formats. This saves time when sending similar letters across multiple referrals.
Step 3: Adding Attachments to the Letter
Below the content editor, click the Attachments sub-tab.
This sub-tab lists all files already attached to the referral.
Toggle each file on or off to choose which ones to include. Files that are toggled on will be sent as separate email attachments when you send the letter to the patient.
Note: File attachments are sent alongside the email as separate files. Note they are not embedded into the letter PDF itself.
Step 4: Including Clinical Notes
Click the Clinical Notes sub-tab (next to the Attachments sub-tab below the editor).
This sub-tab shows all clinical notes currently attached to the referral.
Toggle which clinical notes to include. Selected notes will be appended to the end of the letter PDF when it is generated.
Clinical notes that were already attached to the referral when you opened the Patient Letter tab are pre-selected by default — you can toggle any of them off if you don't want to include them.
Step 5: Previewing and Downloading the Letter
In the sidebar on the right, use the PDF template selectors to choose a header template. This will appear at the top of every page of the generated PDF.
Use the same selectors to choose a footer template. This will appear at the bottom of every page.
Click Preview Letter to open a preview of the generated PDF. The preview will show your letter content followed by any selected clinical notes appended at the bottom.
If you are happy with the result, click Download Letter to save a copy of the PDF to your device.
Note: The PDF contains your letter content with any selected clinical notes appended at the end. File attachments you toggled on in the Attachments sub-tab are not included in the PDF — they are sent as separate email attachments.
Step 6: Sending the Letter to the Patient
In the sidebar, click Send to Patient.
A dialog will open with the following fields:
To: Pre-filled with the patient's email address from their record. This field cannot be edited here.
Subject: A default subject line that you can customise.
Message: A default email body that you can customise before sending.
Review the details and make any changes to the subject or message as needed.
Click Send Email to send the letter.
Note: The patient will receive an email containing your message with the referral letter attached as a PDF. Any file attachments you toggled on in the Attachments sub-tab will also be included as separate email attachments.
If the patient does not have an email address saved on their record, you will see a warning in the dialog. You will need to add an email address to the patient's record before you can send the letter.
Step 7: After Sending — Patient Timeline
Once the letter has been sent, the interaction is automatically recorded on the patient's timeline. The entry includes details of the letter that was sent and lists any attachments that were included with the email.
This means you can always check a patient's timeline to confirm when a referral letter was sent and what was included — no need to go searching through emails.
Tip: This provides an audit trail — you can always verify when a referral letter was sent to a patient by checking their timeline.
You've learned how to compose, preview, and send a professional referral letter to patients. Next, learn how to send the referral to the recipient and how they interact with it. Continue to Sending a Referral & The Referral Portal.