The NHS is encouraging people to gift their loved ones the NHS
App this Christmas, so they can order prescriptions, manage
appointments and check test results over the festive period.
As the health service combats its busiest ever start to winter,
the NHS wants to ensure that patients have easy access to care,
amid a rapid rise of seasonal viruses such as flu, RSV, norovirus
and Covid.
People can ensure they do not run out of vital medicines over the
Christmas period at the touch of a button instead of needing to
call into a pharmacy or ring their GP.
With latest data showing people aged 50-70 logged in to use the
app 19.3 million times in November (an 80% increase on Nov 2023),
the NHS is encouraging millions more people to “unwrap the NHS
App” this Christmas with a new list of 12 ways people can manage
their health on their smartphone.
New features are being added to the NHS App regularly as the NHS
encourages more people to use the app in their everyday lives.
Earlier this month, the NHS set out reforms to ensure more women
can make the most of cancer screening at the touch of a button,
announcing the rollout of a new “ping and book”
service that will send alerts to phones to remind women they
are due or overdue an appointment, to help improve uptake and
save thousands of lives.
The plans began with invitations for breast screening being sent
directly through the NHS App and will be expanded to include
cervical screening in Spring 2025, with new functionality being
developed to enable millions to book screening through the app
next year.
As the app approaches its sixth birthday, latest data shows the
number of people using the app to manage their health has
increased by nearly 50% over the past year – with 10.6 million
logging in to use the app last month compared to 7.3 million in
November 2023.
The number of repeat prescriptions ordered has risen by 47% over
the last year (3.2 million in November 2023 to 4.7 million in
November 2024) and the number of visits to the app's test results
section (by users with cookies enabled) has increased by
126% (2.9 million in November 2023 to 6.6 million in November
2024).
Dr Vin Diwakar, National Transformation Director at NHS
England, said: “The NHS is going into winter busier than
ever before with the threat of an unprecedented “quad-demic”, so
we want to make sure that people know the best way to access
care.
“The NHS App is available 24 hours a day for everything from
ordering a repeat prescription to checking advice on a medical
condition, so you can ensure your Christmas isn't ruined because
you have run out of vital medicines.
“So, I would encourage anyone who doesn't have the NHS App on
their phone, or has not used it for a while, to unwrap the app
this Christmas to help them stay well over the festive season.
“As ever, please continue to use A&E and 999 in
life-threatening emergencies or use 111 Online through the NHS
App for less urgent conditions."
The 12 ways of using the NHS App this Christmas
are:
Medications
- Order a repeat prescription
- Nominate a pharmacy to make it easier to collect
prescriptions
-
Find your nearest pharmacy
that's open
-
Check NHS advice on taking
different medicines
Health advice
-
Check if you need urgent
medical help using 111 online
- Have your GP health record to hand when you're on the move
- Find Services near you like sexual health
clinics and dentists
- Check your health status for your new year resolutions with
the BMI, BP and Heart Age tool
Appointments
- Check and manage hospital appointments and GP ones
- Turn on message notifications to avoid missing appointments
from your GP and Hospital
Get involved in improving the NHS
-
Sign up to be part of health
research
-
Have your say on making the
NHS fit for the future
Details on how to register with the NHS App are available
at www.nhs.uk/nhs-app
