The Welsh Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing has shared an update on the NHS Wales App, its use and plans for upcoming features, including test results, patient-reported outcomes, and an “about me” section for patients to share information they would like health professionals to know about them.
Since the beta launch in April 2023, the App has been downloaded by more than half a million people; equivalent to one in five adults in Wales, and with more than nine million log-ins. Current functionality covers repeat prescriptions, booking for “some” primary care appointments, viewable health records, secure messaging, organ donation choices, and accessibility to NHS services such as 111 and screening.
The Minister, Sarah Murphy, said: “This isn’t just an app that allows us to check a few basic facts and figures about health services, or our own health data. This is a useful and powerful platform with a huge potential to change the way we all use and interact with our health service. It represents a fundamental shift in how we empower people to engage with their healthcare and health services.”
Functionality to be released in an update this Autumn will build on a successful pilot at Hywel Dda University Health Board, focused on enabling information about waiting lists for general surgery and appointment messages to be shared via the App. “Other features like proxy access for carers, nominating a pharmacy for your prescriptions, waiting list status and hospital appointment tracking across all health boards are either already available or in the advanced stages of roll-out,” the Minister shared.
For 2026, the focus will be on test results, patient-reported outcomes, and an “about me” section allowing people to share information they would like health professionals to know about them. Beyond this, the government is prioritising visibility of secondary care features and the integration of platforms such as the Swansea Bay patient portal, improving interoperability, “but only where it adds value”.
The ambition is to “match the functionality of the English app and then go further”, the update states. “We are building an app that is bilingual by design, reflecting our national identity; equitable to access, with inclusive verification and proxy features; and integrated across systems, including commercial platforms.”
Other updates highlighted by the Minister include the rollout of e-prescribing, laboratory information management systems, a digital maternity app, the Welsh nursing care record, and a radiology informatics system. Connecting Care is underway to connect all 22 local authorities and linking to health boards to share data for primary use in social care.
Murphy added: “The confidence, really, is about everybody being on the same page and pulling in the same direction, and I feel confident now that we are making that progress, that we are all pulling in the same direction. We can see where we’re going, we’ve got these big projects that need to be done, we’ve got these other initiatives that mean so much to the people of Wales that we’re committed to delivering.”
The Welsh government’s budget for 2025/26 promised “more than £600 million in extra revenue and capital funding” to help reduce long waiting times, make improvements in mental health services, and improve women’s health services. The increased capital will help, it stated, “invest in fit-for-purpose, modern, reliable equipment and digital technology” to tackle waiting times by “addressing infrastructure fragility and sustainability”.
A £120 million package was launched earlier this year to fund the reduction of long wait times and the size of waiting lists in the NHS by 200,000, with the aim to offer services that will support an “increase in productivity and efficiency and reduce variation”. Notable requirements include reducing automatic follow-up appointments, having a minimum of seven cataract procedures per list by the end of September 2025 and removing extra steps that “do not add benefit or value to a patient’s healthcare journey”.
The government has also published a prior information notice ahead of a procurement for a supplier who can deliver on the Digital Inclusion Wales contract, in an effort to reduce barriers to access to digital devices and online services.
Wider trend: Health tech transformation in Wales
Digital Health and Care Wales has sought information from potential suppliers on a digital triage primary care solution. The notice outlines a 2-year duration for the contract, with an estimated value of up to £500k. According to the general medical services team at DHCW, the solution should support patient triage, appointment management, patient communication and business intelligence, in order to meet the needs of a general practice.
A DHCW market discovery exercise has also been launched to explore the ambient voice technology solutions currently available and capable of meeting the needs of general practice and primary care throughout the region. The general medical services team within DHCW have outlined one key objective, aiming to gather market intelligence that will better inform their approach and “empower GP practices to use ambient scribe tools to drive general practice efficiencies and enhance patient care”.
DHCW shared progress on updates to its Flu and Covid-19 vaccinations system, and its colposcopy administration system to improve the quality of information being recorded. The Welsh Immunisation System has been updated to offer capability from ordering and stock management through to recording at point of care and system-wide surveillance, with further plans to rollout booking and communication features to RSV vaccinations in the coming months.
