Key Summary
- Patients can now view, manage, and reschedule hospital visits directly in the NHS App.
- Push notifications and digital access cut no-shows and reduce paperwork for NHS staff.
- With millions of users, the app is transforming how care is accessed and managed.
NHS App users can now view their hospital referrals and hospital appointments, and this will help NHS trusts save time and money for doing paper works and sending SMS text messages.
Nearly 64 per cent of the appointments will now be visible through the app and it will help patients with easier rescheduling and cancellation, reducing missed appointments.
The app will send push notifications to prevent missed appointments.
As per the latest NHS data, 8.7 million appointments were viewed in the app in March, 93 per cent more views than last year.
The feature is available for all acute NHS trusts in England to enhance their productivity, cut off waiting lists and also free up time and resources for the staff.
The innovation allows the 41 million registered users of the NHS App to access services like test results, prescriptions, patient records, patient messaging, discharge summaries and appointment information from any location.
The NHS App is being tried by many people recently with nearly 15 million log ins in March alone.
In addition, the number of prescription ordering through the app has also risen by more than a third.
NHS is trying to make the app user-friendly and easy to navigate by adding key services such as prescriptions, appointments and test results in the homepage itself.
The digital innovation of NHS has just begun, with many more features in line for the coming days including follow-up appointment requests, access to specialist care via NHS online hospital, etc.
NHS online is all set to see its first patients in 2027 through the NHS App or video consultations with doctors.
This modern approach will speed up the NHS’s healthcare service delivery even if the patient is in the country or not.
“The NHS App is already transforming the way people manage their care - and these figures show just how popular it is,” said health minister Dr Zubir Ahmed on the latest NHS data.
“The NHS App is central to our ambition of shifting the NHS from analogue to digital and giving the patient more control - and we’re only just starting there,” he added.
