The health service’s core patient software program will be upgraded to allow users to, first view upcoming operations and treatments and, ultimately, choose providers and manage test results and appointments
The government has promised a “revolutionised” version of the NHS App as part of its plan to slash waiting times for operations and other elective treatments.
A programme of upgrades to the app – which has about 34 million registered users across England – will allow users to view and manage hospital appointments and “choose from a wide range of providers, including in the independent sector”, according to the Department of Health and Social Care.
“Patients will also be able to contact their treatment provider at their convenience, and receive clear information and regular updates, including on how long they are likely to wait for their appointment,” the DHSC added.
The department claimed that, currently, only 8% of bookings for elective-care appointments are made digitally – either via the NHS App or the Manage Your Referral online service.
Other updates to the app will enable patients to book tests “at convenient locations, such as a community diagnostic centre in a local shopping centre”. The results of tests will be available directly via the app – a process which currently typically requires a phone call, letter, or face-to-face appointment with a medical professional, according to government.
As part of an initial phase of work, the DHSC has committed that, by March, 85% of NHS acute hospital trusts will offer their patients the ability to at least view appointment details via the app.
Related content
- Ministers pledge unified patient record in NHS App as part of 10-year journey from ‘analogue to digital’
- Labour’s NHS plan promises ‘tech entrepreneurs and AI in every hospital’
- Mental-health services to be added to NHS App as part of digital expansion
Health and social care secretary Wes Streeting, said: “If the wealthy can choose where and when they are treated, then working-class patients should be able to as well, and this government will give them that choice. Our plan will reform the NHS, so patients are fully informed every step of the way through their care, they are given proper choice to go to a different provider for a shorter wait, and put in control of their own healthcare. This government’s reform agenda will take the NHS from a one size fits all, top down, ‘like it or lump it’ service, to a modern service that puts patients in the driving seat and treats them on time – delivering on our Plan for Change to drive a decade of national renewal.”
He added: “By bringing our analogue NHS into the digital age, we will cut waiting times from 18 months to 18 weeks and give working-class patients the same choice, control and convenience as the wealthy receive.”
The modernisation of the app is part of a wider reform programme intended to give patients more control over their care and, ultimately, reduce surgery waiting times to an average of four months by the end of the current parliamentary term.
Other strands of work will see the health service implementing artificial intelligence tools – including a newly launched pilot scheme intended to help “identify patients more likely to miss appointments and provide support, such as free transport to those most in need”.
“NHS staff are providing record levels of elective care but with too many patients waiting, we know we need to reform further and faster so we can take our progress on the backlog to the next level,” said NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard. “That is why as part of the elective reform plan we will fully harness the potential of the NHS App, giving patients more information, choice and control over their care while freeing up the time of our staff so they can work more productively too. Using technology to revolutionise access to NHS care, alongside offering more availability of tests, checks and scans closer to people’s homes will help us tackle waiting times and put patients in the driving seat of elective care.”
