UK cabinet minister has acknowledged concerns of GPs and claimed that a national app allowing citizens to engage with the NHS ‘should have happened in Scotland a long time ago’

First minister John Swinney’s “analogue” ways are to blame for the healthtech divide between Scotland and England, the Scottish secretary has said.

While attending the launch of the University of Edinburgh’s Usher Institute, cabinet minister Ian Murray told PublicTechnology sister publication Holyrood: “John Swinney is an analogue first minister in the digital world, and I think the concerns that the GPs have said are very much clear concerns. I have the NHS app in London, and it’s fantastic for repeat prescriptions, appointments, information, downloading certificates during Covid, etc.

He added: “The app’s really powerful because it puts your own health and your own health data in your own hand and gets over all those challenges of being able to get in touch with people, talk to people and be part of the system. So we do need to get that here in Scotland. It should have happened a long time ago.”

Related content

• NHS claims approval of new GP IT system breaks duo’s 25-year dominance
• NHS calls for ‘proactive’ GP IT systems that flag patient safety risks
• NHS App launches ‘Amazon-style’ prescription-tracking function

GPs have previously told Holyrood they looked “on with frustration” at the digital health tech divide between England and Scotland, citing tools like the NHS Scotland app, which is set to begin rollout this December, six years after England had its app fully operational.  

Swinney has since pledged to deliver a tech-powered revamp of public services to plug budget gaps, with a focus on better integration of technology across the healthcare sector.

Both prime minister Keir Starmer and Swinney have said artificial intelligence will “revolutionise healthcare”. However, the Scottish secretary warned it would not be a cure-all solution for the ongoing crisis in the NHS.

He said: “AI is going to be a huge part of our healthcare going forward. It’s not just healthcare, of course, it’s all the technologies that we’ll use. AI will be a big driving force for it. So I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s a panacea, but it will be a major contributing factor to health inequalities and health services in the future.”

A version of this story originally appeared on PublicTechnology sister publication Holyrood