It was supposed to revolutionise the healthcare system by allowing patients to book a doctor’s appointment directly from their tablet or smartphone. When the NHS app was launched in 2019, then-health minister Jeremy Hunt boasted that it would “mark the end of the 8am rush to get a GP appointment that infuriates so many patients”.
The app was also designed to allow patients to view test results, medical records, upcoming appointments and request repeat prescriptions.
But five years on, the app appears to be failing to live up to its promise. Analysis by The Mail on Sunday has revealed that less than one per cent of GP appointments are booked through the app. And there are many other problems, according to patients and GPs.
Last week, our GP Dr Ellie Cannon wrote in her column that she couldn’t find her medical records on the app and asked readers to send us their experiences. In response, we received countless emails from readers saying that despite their best efforts, they had also been unable to use the app, which they described as “useless” and “infuriating”.
Janet Higgins, from Lancashire, was shocked to discover that a friend from a village just five miles away could book appointments through the system, but she could not. She said: ‘I can use the NHS app to order repeat prescriptions, but I can’t book appointments, look up my medical history or check test results.
“But my friend works at another doctor’s office and can check all her data and also make appointments. It should be available to everyone.”
A person holds a mobile phone displaying the NHS app. The Mail on Sunday has revealed that the NHS app is used to book less than 1% of GP appointments, prompting users to question its usefulness
Mike Lawrence, from Woking, said he can no longer contact his GP by phone, but cannot make an appointment using the app. “It’s supposed to cover a lot of aspects of GPs’ work, but for the important things like appointments, it’s useless,” he said.
It’s not just patients who are reporting problems with the app. Professor Dame Clare Gerada, former president of the Royal College of GPs, says the NHS app has many positive uses, but it doesn’t allow her to book an appointment with her GP.
“I think the app is great. I can see all my medications and test results,” she says. “But when I’m looking for an appointment, for example, all it lets me do is make an appointment for a Pap smear.”
So was it unrealistic for the Government to claim that the NHS app could become the main place to book a GP appointment? Or could the system be improved?
When the app was launched, very few decided to download it, largely due to a lack of advertising or understanding of its function.
Between January 2019 and May 2021, only eight million people registered on the app. However, when it was announced that the app would display COVID-19 vaccination status, the number of users quadrupled. It eventually reached 30 million downloads, making it one of the most popular apps in the country. This boost was due to suggestions that the government was considering implementing COVID passports, which would require people to be vaccinated in order to access public spaces such as nightclubs and football matches.
An illustration taken on July 7, 2024 shows the National Health Service (NHS) app on a mobile phone screen.
When the app was first launched in 2019, then health minister Jeremy Hunt (pictured) boasted it would “mark the end of the 8am scramble to get GP appointments that infuriates so many patients”.
But once these plans were abandoned, the number of people regularly using the app declined.
The latest NHS England data shows that while around eight million people went online in April, only 900,000 requested repeat prescriptions and a shockingly low 48,000 made a GP appointment – less than one per cent of the seven million that are made, on average, each week.
Last year, a report published by the parliamentary Health and Social Care Committee warned that the app’s benefits were “unclear to many existing users” and that the NHS needed to do more to “demonstrate (its) continued value”. The report added that “current integration of the app with NHS services was limited”.
GP surgeries and hospitals are supposed to enter their patients’ NHS records, including recent tests, prescriptions and diagnoses, into the app.
Some experts say the reason crucial information is missing is because doctors don’t take the time to update patients’ notes about it.
Others say many GP practices have decided not to use the app for appointments because they are concerned it will disadvantage patients who do not have one: about one in ten Britons do not have a smartphone and around four million over-65s do not use the internet.
“It’s not that doctors are reluctant to embrace new technology,” says Dr Helen Salisbury, a GP and medical education expert at the University of Oxford. “They are concerned that appointments will fill up very quickly, and not necessarily by the people who need them most.”
Instead, Dr Salisbury argues that it is more efficient for GP practices to book appointments over the phone, as family doctors can decide who needs to be seen sooner, rather than giving the next available appointment to the person who can log on to the app the quickest. “Some practices are already overloaded with appointment requests,” she says, “so opening up the system and allowing everyone to book whenever they want is not a great idea.”
Not all readers are unhappy with the app. Michael Treacher, 75, from Staffordshire, has type 1 diabetes and uses the app, which is “very useful”, to make GP appointments and order prescriptions.
Meanwhile, Margaret Jacques, 78, says she regularly uses the “handy” app to keep track of her upcoming hospital visits and to order prescriptions.
However, most say they are interested in using the app, but feel there are very few tasks they can complete using it.
“I can’t renew my prescription or see my medical history,” says Karen Misselbrook from Southampton. “All I can see is my name, date of birth and COVID-19 vaccination record. It’s a great idea, but it needs to be improved to really work.”
An NHS England spokesperson said: “We are continuing to improve the app. We know there is more to do and we are committed to supporting all practices and healthcare centres to incorporate new digital tools to make it easier for patients to access and make appointments.”
- To download the app, go to nhs.uk/nhs-app/