Tens of millions extra sufferers throughout England are benefitting from simpler entry to their well being data and medical companies by the NHS App, as signal ups prime 30 million – together with seven million new signal ups in 2022.
The app, which launched 4 years in the past, was one of the crucial in style free well being apps of 2022 – with extra folks accessing its vary of options, together with over 65 million GP document views. The federal government has already met its goal to have 68% of individuals in England registered with the NHS App by March 2023 and is firmly on observe to fulfill its second goal to have 75% of individuals registered by 2024.
The app affords a digital entrance door for interacting with the NHS and has seen a bunch of recent options launched within the final 12 months – empowering sufferers to entry companies from the consolation of their houses.
Well being and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay mentioned:
Expertise is reworking the way in which we use the NHS and with over 30 million signal ups to the NHS App throughout the nation, together with seven million this yr alone, there may be enormous potential to modernise companies for sufferers and workers.
Within the final yr alone 21 million repeat prescriptions have been ordered by the app, saving precious time for clinicians and serving to folks entry their remedy as simply as doable.
On prime of this we’ve got added progressive new options – from accessing GP data to reserving Covid jabs – which can assist us ease pressures on GPs and different major care companies and supply simpler, personalised care. If you have not already I would encourage you to obtain the app and see the way it may help you entry the companies you want.
The NHS App is supporting hardworking NHS workers as they work tirelessly to clear the Covid backlogs, releasing up precious clinician time in addition to empowering sufferers to have larger management over their well being and care data.
A complete of 1.7 million GP appointments had been booked by the NHS App this yr and a document breaking 22 million repeat prescriptions ordered, up from 9 million over the identical interval final yr. 128,000 folks additionally registered their organ donation determination by the NHS App.
Sufferers in lots of elements of the nation are additionally in a position to view and handle their hospital appointments on the app – serving to to construct a contemporary, digital NHS. The brand new options embrace viewing all referrals and future hospital appointments in a single place, accessing supporting info for appointments -such as hospital maps – together with reserving, altering and cancelling appointments.
The brand new options can be found to sufferers at 20 NHS Trusts throughout the nation from York and Scarborough to Royal Cornwall – with one other 24 trusts anticipated to be out there by March 2023 – and has been used over 800,000 occasions.
Lords Minister For Expertise Nick Markham mentioned:
Tens of millions of sufferers have continued to enroll to the NHS App, serving to to generate a document variety of views and modernise how our well being service works.
We’ll proceed to innovate and incorporate new options to make sure that sufferers can entry handy, prime quality care when and the place they want it.
Simon Bolton, Interim Chief Govt at NHS Digital, mentioned:
The NHS App continues to alter the way in which folks in England entry healthcare companies. Because it was launched 4 years in the past, thousands and thousands of individuals have used it to ebook GP appointments, order repeat prescriptions and think about GP data.
We have additionally added new options to the app to assist folks handle hospital appointments, ebook Covid vaccinations and obtain messages from GPs. The NHS App is a good instance of how expertise can be utilized to assist folks take management of their healthcare and entry NHS companies shortly and simply.”
Dr Vin Diwakar, medical director for transformation at NHS England, mentioned:
It is incredible that the NHS App is already within the pockets of thousands and thousands of individuals, offering quick access to essential on a regular basis NHS companies like repeat prescriptions and GP appointment bookings.
Our imaginative and prescient is to remodel the NHS App right into a entrance door for the NHS, with many thrilling new options and modifications deliberate – delivering on the NHS’ Lengthy Time period Plan dedication to proceed to harness the ability of expertise for sufferers and workers – which stays on the coronary heart of our plans to innovate affected person look after the twenty first century.”
Individuals also can obtain notifications from their GPs, a characteristic which has been rolled out throughout practically 2,000 practices. Due to this effort over 700,000 messages to replace sufferers together with appointment reminders and take a look at outcomes have been efficiently processed.
Persons are additionally benefitting from the flexibility to ebook a Covid vaccine appointment by the NHS App. Greater than 28,000 bookings have been made through this route in simply 4 weeks because the characteristic was added in November, accounting for 9% of all bookings since this characteristic was enabled.
Thanks to those form of options, thousands and thousands of persons are benefitting from simpler and faster entry to NHS companies – and the federal government will proceed to construct on the progress which has already been made.
New options within the app out there subsequent yr will guarantee sufferers can entry extra NHS companies at their fingertips – together with reserving their flu vaccination and accessing hospital correspondence, comparable to pre-consultation questionnaires.
