As from 24 March, the NHS Cervical Screening Programme will start sending results requiring referral to colposcopy available through the NHS App. This change follows the introduction of digital invitations, reminders and some results in 2025 and comprehensive user research which has demonstrated strong support for receiving screening results digitally.
Digital-first communications first appear as an NHS App notification. For results requiring referral to colposcopy, if the NHS App message is not read within 24 hours, a letter will be sent as a fail-safe. For all other communications, if the NHS App message isn’t read within 72 hours, a letter will be sent as a fail-safe. Some participants may also receive an SMS notification.
Since June 2025, over 3 million invitations have been sent via NHS Notify, where 9 out of every 10 invitations have been delivered digitally, with the remainder being sent by post.