Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to encourage NHS Trusts in England and Wales to adopt the NHS barcode for correspondence sent through Royal Mail.

NHS England and Royal Mail have worked together to improve how NHS letters are sent to patients across the UK and ensure NHS providers have a choice of both price and speed when sending letters. The Royal Mail NHS barcode, introduced in April 2025, is designed to optimise the delivery of NHS letters during times of local and national disruption, but it is for individual NHS trusts to register for the barcode and decide on its usage. Further details can be found on the Royal Mail website at the following link:

https://www.royalmailwholesale.com/news/nhs-mail-new-barcode-solution