.png)
The app will also allow users to order repeat prescriptions, manage their long-term healthcare, see their medical records, and quickly access 111 for urgent queries.
In addition, users will have access to patient preferences related to data sharing, organ donation, and end-of-life care.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt described the app as a “birthday present from the NHS to the British people”, 70 years after the service was founded.
The NHS app is a world-first which will put patients firmly in the driving seat and revolutionize the way we access health services.
I want this innovation to mark the death-knell of the 8am scramble for GP appointments that infuriates so many patients.
Technology has transformed everyday life when it comes to banking, travel and shopping. Health matters much more to all of us, and the prize of that same digital revolution in healthcare isn’t just convenience but lives improved, extended and saved.
As the NHS turns 70 and we draw up a long-term plan for the NHS on the back of our £394 million a week funding boost, it’s time to catch up and unleash the power of technology to transform everyday life for patients.
“The new app will put the NHS into the pocket of everyone in England but it is just one step on the journey,” said Matthew Swindells, NHS England National Director of Operations and Information. “We are also developing an NHS Apps Library and putting free NHS Wi-Fi in GP surgeries and hospitals.”
Today we have unveiled the new NHS App where you can book a raft of routine requests, including GP appointments and repeat prescriptions pic.twitter.com/CtX0UzZSIy
— DHSC Media Centre (@DHSCmedia) July 2, 2018
Developed by NHS Digital and NHS England, the app will enter its testing phase in September and then roll out officially in December. It will be available on iOS devices through the App Store, as well as on Android phones via Google Play.
