Health secretary Streeting says that securing the future of the health service ‘demands revolution’, including the use of a new digital platform to conduct thousands of patient consultations every day

The health service’s new “online hospital” service will initially focus on nine specified health conditions, including prostate, eyesight and menstrual problems.

Due to begin treating people in 2027, NHS Online will offer triaging via the NHS App, before connecting citizens to doctors offering video consultations and ongoing remote monitoring of a patient’s health. NHS England – which is shortly to be dissolved and subsumed into government – intends that the new digital hospital will offer “up to 8.5 million virtual appointments and assessments in its first three years – four times more than an average NHS trust”.

If distributed evenly across the three-year period, this would equate to between 7,500 and 8,000 appointments being conducted online every day.

During this initial period of operation, NHS Online will specialise in treatment for nine conditions, including glaucoma, cataracts, and other conditions linked to age-related retinal degeneration.

Also on its focus list will be menopause and menstrual problems linked to endometriosis, as well as enlargement and other prostate conditions – excepting cancer. The service’s final two specialisms will be inflammatory bowel disease, and iron deficiency anaemia.

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Following a referral from a GP, patients will have the option to undergo secondary care via the online facility – rather than a traditional hospital. In-person scans, tests and other procedures “will continue to take place at healthcare sites closer to patients’ homes, while clinicians will be able to review their notes remotely”, according to NHS England.

The health service added that the new online offering “won’t replace traditional care, [and] patients will always have the choice of face-to-face appointments”. 

The main objectives of the launch are to provide patients with greater choice and flexibility, while allowing government to reduce waiting lists.

Health and social care secretary Wes Streeting said: “We’ve already made big changes in the NHS, but building a health service that’s fit for the future requires more than just evolution – it demands revolution. NHS Online will make accessing healthcare as simple as ordering a cab or a takeaway – fundamentally changing how people interact with the NHS for generations to come. People with the nine conditions we’re announcing today face some of the longest waits, ensuring they’re seen on time again as we shift the NHS from analogue to digital.”

Dr Sue Mann, NHS England’s national clinical director in women’s health, said: “Menstrual problems, that can be caused by conditions such as endometriosis or fibroids, or menopause symptoms can affect every part of a woman’s life, so it’s essential that the NHS provides better access to effective treatments more quickly. NHS Online will make it easier for women to see a consultant from their own home without having to face a long wait for an in-person appointment, meaning they can get on with their daily lives.”