The NHS App is set for a significant transformation to provide patients across the UK with better access to healthcare information, aiming to reduce health inequalities.
The overhaul, part of the government’s 10-Year Health Plan, aims to provide patients with information, choice, and control over their healthcare, regardless of their background.
The upgraded NHS App aims to democratise healthcare, ensuring that all individuals, including those from working-class communities.
It also provides necessary information about their conditions or upcoming procedures.
The app features the My Companion tool, which uses AI to offer patients reliable health information, making them informed participants in their healthcare consultations.
It will help patients clearly express their health needs and preferences, offering details about specific health conditions or procedures they may require.
The app also features the My Choices tool, which will enable users to locate nearby pharmacies or top-rated providers for surgeries like heart, hip, or knee operations.
It will provide data on providers across the country, including wait times, patient outcomes, satisfaction scores, and proximity, and allow users to make informed choices.
NHS transformation national director Vin Diwakar said: “The shift from analogue to digital set out in the 10 Year Health Plan will transform the services we offer through the NHS App, making it the single most important tool patients use to get health information and control their care.
“These exciting reforms will be invaluable in combating health disparities and providing world-leading access to those who have not previously been able to get care on their own terms – by providing transparent data about services or supporting carers to manage the care of loved ones.
“We will co-design these with patients and carers to ensure that the app can be accessed by everyone. All this and more will be available from your pocket, making controlling your own healthcare as easy as placing an online shopping order.”
The initiative aims to eliminate the ‘one size fits all’ approach, which often overlooks the unique needs of various demographics, including women, ethnic minorities, and rural residents.
As part of the 10-Year Health Plan, the Health Secretary has announced measures to tackle health inequalities and optimise resource allocation, focusing on communities in need.
The government has already surpassed its goal of enabling 85% of hospitals to allow patients to view appointment information via the NHS App by March 2025, reaching 87% by July 2024.
The advancement has saved nearly 5.7 million hours of staff time, including 1.26 million clinical hours, and avoided 1.5 million missed appointments, saving approximately £622m.
In addition, the Health and Social Care Secretary announced a new pilot programme to support people from working-class communities in joining the NHS workforce.
With a £5m investment, the scheme will focus on groups facing employment barriers, offering skills training, job application assistance, and work placements in the health care sector.
Participants may progress to roles such as health support workers, administrative positions, and pharmacy support roles, paving the way for long-term careers in health and care.
Through the Plan for Change, the government is committed to improving living standards, driving growth, and addressing inequalities.
Health and Social Care secretary Wes Streeting said: “The NHS feels increasingly slow and outdated to the generation that organises their lives at the touch of a button.
“If you get annoyed at Deliveroo not getting your dinner to you in less than an hour, how will you feel being told to wait a year for a knee operation? A failure to modernise risks this generation walking away from the NHS, first for their healthcare, and then with their taxes.
“Technology can be the great leveller. Look at what Martin Lewis, the Money Saving Expert, has done for personal finances.
“For ordinary people, who could never afford their own financial adviser, it is simple and easy to make your hard-earned money go further.”
