With the publication of the 10 Year Health Plan, the government has outlined the role of the NHS App in its health system of the future, highlighting AI-enabled features, links with wearable tech, and access to the Single Patient Record. Sir Jim Mackey, chief executive at NHS England, said: “The NHS App will be at the heart of the tech transformation we’re planning for the NHS to give people much more ownership of their healthcare – all from wherever they are at the tap of a screen.”
The NHS App will become a “doctor in their pockets” for patients as a tool for access, empowerment, and care planning, creating a “full front door to the entire NHS”. It will offer remote or face-to-face appointment booking and signposting to the most appropriate service with the AI-enabled My NHS GP, and allow patients to select preferred providers through My Choices. Functionality will also be available for patients to self-refer with My Specialist, and to connect with clinicians via remote consultations with My Consult.
The My Care feature will provide patients with access to their Single Patient Record, one of the components outlined in the government’s plan as helping the NHS App become a “truly personal digital assistant for every patient”. With the My Medicines and My Companion features, patients will also have the ability to manage their repeat prescriptions, get information about health conditions or procedures, and ask AI or a clinician a question relating to their health.
A further tool to be introduced to the NHS App, My Health, will connect real-time data from wearables or smart devices to relevant NHS data such as test results. Wearable data detailing metrics like heart rate and sleep quality, is also expected to be fed into the app to enable the provision of personalised health advice.
The roadmap also notes the introduction of a ‘HealthStore’ in to the App, said “to enable patients to access approved digital tools and apps to manage or treat their conditions”.
Rachel Power, chief executive of the Patients Association, welcomed the government’s ambitions for the NHS App, commenting that these could “deliver the fundamental change patients have asked for in their interactions with the NHS, including the ability to manage their appointments, self-refer to vital services, and, in three years’ time, be able to view their health records through the Single Patient Record”.
Power also warned against these innovations coming “at the cost of inclusion”, noting: “True progress means making the system work for everyone.” The government has vowed to take steps to ensure digital inclusion, covering ongoing partnerships with libraries and community organisations to help people get set up on the app, and work across government to improve access to tech and boost confidence amongst “groups that have previously struggled”. Expanding the NHS App’s functionality will also mean freeing-up capacity for traditional routes into health services, it notes.
NHS reform
The 10 Year Health Plan shared details of new operating and workforce models, along with ambitions to increase innovation and the use of digital technologies to support efficiencies and ambitions such as prevention. Further details of the Single Patient Record have been shared to “operate as a patient passport”. To make this possible, “new legislation will place a duty on every health and care provider to make the information they record about a patient available to that patient”. For the workforce the plan highlights the need to ensure staff have the skills they need in a digitally enabled NHS and sets an objective to give the NHS “the most AI-enabled workforce in the world”, where staff will be AI trained, digitally confident and “have skills in modern leadership, transformation and innovation”.
For a recent HTN Now panel discussion, we were joined by experts from across the health sector to dissect the findings from Lord Darzi’s report, reflecting on what is holding the NHS back from innovation; the challenges and missed opportunities; and the role of digital and tech in driving change, supporting a focus on prevention and promoting integrated care. Panellists included Lee Rickles, CIO, director & deputy SIRO at Humber Teaching Hospitals; Andrew Jones, digital transformation leader at Amazon Web Services; Tracy McClelland, CCIO at Dedalus; and Dan Bunstone, clinical director at Warrington Innovation Network and Warrington ICB.
