Letter Writing to Patients

[ColgateSmile]

Hi

I have drafted the below letter (or should it be '...letter below')? Would someone please be able to have a read through of it and amend? I would be ever so grateful. At least if I can see the amendments it should hopefully allow me to write a little better next time.

Please be aware the wording in << >> is computer coding that automatically picks up the information from patients records.

Many thanks



Dear <<patient.title>><<patient.lastname>>

We are currently streamlining our patient list and note from our records that your last visit to the practice was «patient.lastvisit», which is a considerable time lapse. We appreciate that there may be a number of reasons for not arranging your routine appointment and we apologise if you have already contacted the practice to inform us; unfortunately, our computer system does not always recognise this.

Our practice strongly believes in preventive dental care and recommends regular check-ups to minimise the need for dental treatment in the future.

If you wish to book a check-up please contact the practice on <<practice.phonenumber>> to arrange an appointment.

If you have contacted the practice recently and made arrangements then please disregard this letter.

Please be aware that we archive patient records if they fail to return within 18 months of their last visit to the practice. This results in no longer being registered as an ‘active’ patient and, therefore, you will not receive any further letters, emails, or text messages from us. It may also mean that we cannot offer you any further appointments in the future.

Yours, etc.

 

[Eckaslike]

Hi

I have drafted the [STRIKE]below letter (or should it be '...[/STRIKE] letter below [STRIKE]')?[/STRIKE]. Please would someone [STRIKE]please[/STRIKE] be able to [STRIKE] have a [/STRIKE] read through [STRIKE]of it[/STRIKE] and amend it? I would be ever so grateful. At least if I can see the amendments it should hopefully allow me to write a little better next time.

Please be aware the wording in << >> is computer coding that automatically picks up the information from patients records.

Many thanks



Dear <<patient.title>><<patient.lastname>>

We are currently streamlining our patient list and note from our records that your last visit to the practice was «patient.lastvisit», which [STRIKE]is a[/STRIKE] was some considerable time ago [STRIKE]lapse[/STRIKE]. We appreciate that there may be a number of reasons for not arranging your routine appointment and we apologise if you have already contacted the practice to inform us; unfortunately, our computer system does not always recognise this.

Our practice strongly believes in preventive dental care and recommends regular check-ups to minimise the need for dental treatment in the future.

If you wish to book a check-up please contact the practice on <<practice.phonenumber>> to arrange an appointment.

If you have contacted the practice recently and made arrangements then please disregard this letter.

Please be aware that we archive [STRIKE]patient[/STRIKE] records if patients [STRIKE]they[/STRIKE] fail to return within 18 months of their last visit to the practice. This results in no longer being registered as an ‘active’ patient and, therefore, you will not receive any further letters, emails, or text messages from us. It may also mean that we cannot offer you any further appointments in the future.

Yours sincerely, etc.

Hi ColgateSmile,

As you can see I don't think your letter needs that many changes.

In British English there is one quite important point, and that is how to sign-off a formal letter. The two forms are "Yours sincerely" and "Yours faithfully". Yours sincerely is used when you address the person at the start of the letter by name. e.g. Dear Mrs Bradshaw, Dear Dr. Andrews etc. Yours faithfully is used when you don't know the persons name, for example when you are writing to a company for the first time and don't have a contact there. e.g Dear Sir or Dear Madam etc.