Starting today, millions of individuals will have access to their prescription information through the NHS App.
After a successful trial involving over a million users last year, NHS England has decided to integrate this new service into the NHS App, enabling patients to monitor when their prescriptions are issued and view their prescribed medications.
Health and Social Care Secretary Victoria Atkins said: “I’m determined to make our health care system faster, simpler and fairer for patients – and the NHS App is all about making access to care easier for everyone.
“Today’s update will mean ordering and collecting your prescriptions can be done with a few taps of your fingers. This will not only benefit anyone getting a prescription, it will also ease pressures on our hardworking pharmacists and GPs – freeing up valuable time for patients and helping to cut waiting lists.”
Expanded NHS App features
In addition to prescription details, patients awaiting elective hospital treatments can now check the average waiting time for their procedures at local trusts.
Moreover, users without a nominated pharmacy can conveniently collect their prescriptions from any pharmacy by utilising a barcode within the app, eliminating the need for a paper version.
Patients with a nominated pharmacy will continue receiving medication electronically without the hassle of paper prescriptions or barcodes. This move comes as the NHS launches a campaign to promote widespread app usage, aiming to alleviate pressures on frontline healthcare services.
Improving efficiency and convenience
The NHS App has already seen significant uptake, with a 45% increase in repeat prescriptions ordered digitally over the past year, totalling an average of 3.1 million monthly requests.
Each electronic repeat prescription saves GP practices three minutes of time, which is projected to amount to 1.85 million hours in 2024. Moreover, patients save an average of 18 minutes per online order, streamlining the process and enabling frontline staff to focus on other critical tasks.
Since its inception five years ago, the NHS App has amassed 33.6 million registered users, representing approximately three-quarters of the adult population.
The new campaign emphasises the app’s versatility, whether for managing prescriptions, accessing GP records, or exploring a range of connected services – all at the tap of a screen.
Concurrent with the campaign, the NHS App has undergone improvements to enhance user experience, making it easier for patients to navigate and locate desired services. The updates aim to provide a more intuitive and streamlined interface, further encouraging app adoption and utilisation.
The integration of prescription services into the NHS App marks another step forward in leveraging technology to improve healthcare accessibility and efficiency.
