Over seven million new sign-ups to the NHS App in 2022 as total sign ups top 30 million.
- New features added this year will enable users to receive notifications from their GPs and view and manage their hospital appointments, with healthcare information now at their fingertips
- Use of the NHS App is freeing up valuable clinician time with 1.7 million GP appointments booked and over 22 million repeat prescriptions ordered through the NHS App in the last 12 months
quality care when and where they need it.
Simon Bolton, Interim Chief Executive at NHS Digital, said:
The NHS App continues to change the way people in England access healthcare services. Since it was launched four years ago, millions of people have used it to book GP appointments, order repeat prescriptions and view GP records.
We’ve also added new features to the app to help people manage hospital appointments, book Covid vaccinations and receive messages from GPs. The NHS App is a great example of how technology can be used to help people take control of their healthcare and access NHS services quickly and easily.
Dr Vin Diwakar, medical director for transformation at NHS England, said:
It’s fantastic that the NHS App is already in the pockets of millions of people, providing easy access to crucial everyday NHS services like repeat prescriptions and GP appointment bookings.
Our vision is to transform the NHS App into a front door for the NHS, with many exciting new features and changes planned – delivering on the NHS’ Long Term Plan commitment to continue to harness the power of technology for patients and staff – which remains at the heart of our plans to innovate patient care for the 21st century.
People can also receive notifications from their GPs, a feature which has been rolled out across nearly 2,000 practices. Thanks to this effort over 700,000 messages to update patients including appointment reminders and test results have been successfully processed.
People are also benefitting from the ability to book a Covid vaccine appointment through the NHS App. More than 28,000 bookings have been made via this route in just four weeks since the feature was added in November, accounting for 9% of all bookings since this feature was enabled.
Thanks to these kind of features, millions of people are benefitting from easier and quicker access to NHS services – and the government will continue to build on the progress which has already been made.
New features in the app available next year will ensure patients can access more NHS services at their fingertips – including booking their flu vaccination and accessing hospital correspondence, such as pre-consultation questionnaires.