Doctors will soon use the NHS app to track patients’ step counts as part of the government’s plans to combat obesity and help get tens of thousands of people back to work.
The move, part of a broader plan to completely revamp the app, would help ensure “we as a nation feel healthier,” Health Secretary Victoria Atkins said.
But the “nanny state” move has already sparked alarm among critics who warned it would be counterproductive. One doctor even called him “horribly Big Brother-like.”
Funded by the £3.4bn investment in new technology, announced in Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s Budget, the NHS will make use of the “vast amounts of data” collected by smartphones.
Atkins said it would allow the health service to link step count and heart rate data, typically stored on smartphones, to help doctors provide personalized advice, screening and treatment.
The move, part of a wider plan to completely revamp the app, would help ensure “we as a nation feel healthier”, Health Secretary Victoria Atkins (pictured) said.
Funded by the £3.4bn investment in new technology, announced in Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s Budget, the NHS will make use of the “vast amounts of data” collected by smartphones. Atkins said it would allow the health service to link step count and heart rate data, typically stored on smartphones, to help doctors provide personalized advice, screening and treatment.
Responding to the move on X, formerly known as Twitter, NHS doctor and author Dr Rachel Clarke said: “This headline has horrible Big Brother connotations.”
“I will not electronically monitor any of my patients without their consent nor will I act as an outpost of the Department for Work and Pensions.”
The doctor, who recently co-wrote ITV Covid hospital drama ‘Awesome’, added: “Our patients are people, not gadgets of economic productivity.”
Meanwhile, Dennis Reed told MailOnline: ‘This is nanny state in the extreme. People will wake up and find apps controlling their lives, literally every step they take.
‘Fortunately, most older people are very wary of apps and if this proposal comes to fruition, many will delete the app due to the civil liberties implications.
“The Secretary of State’s thoughtless approach to new technologies will be counterproductive unless she reins in her enthusiasm for all things digital.”
Around £430m of the £3.4bn investment will go into the NHS app, Ms Atkins said.
She said The times The reforms played a “really important role” in reducing the record 2.8 million people currently out of work due to long-term illnesses.
“A strong economy helps pay for the NHS, but in reality a strong NHS helps a growing economy,” he said.
Ms Atkins added: “If you think about the data we have on our phones, healthcare will definitely be there and encourage people to figure out what a healthy lifestyle is for them.
“How can they help with quitting smoking? Talking therapies on the NHS app… are things that will help us in the future.”
The wider £3.4bn investment will also see the introduction of artificial intelligence assistants to help write medical notes and interpret scans for diseases such as cancer more quickly.
But the AI assistant’s own note plan has also faced backlash, with patient safety advocates warning that people may feel too embarrassed to discuss medical topics freely while being recorded.
Others fear that the notes may be inaccurate.
On Wednesday, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said he would stop NHS staff wasting time filling out forms and instead increase the number of appointments to tackle the NHS backlog.
Around £1 billion will also be used to introduce an app for NHS staff to make it easier for staff to move employment records around the system.
Earlier this week, the Office for Budget Responsibility warned that the number of people out of work would remain high for years as economic inactivity proves “more persistent” than previously thought.
Responding to the move on X, formerly known as Twitter, NHS doctor and author Dr Rachel Clarke said: “This headline has horrible Big Brother connotations.” “I will not electronically monitor any of my patients without their consent nor will I act as an outpost of the Department for Work and Pensions.” The doctor, who recently co-wrote ITV Covid hospital drama ‘Awesome’, added: ‘Our patients are people, not gadgets of economic productivity.’
Others have also long projected that benefit payments could rise by £9 billion between 2019 and 2027.
MailOnline understands there are around 3,000 people claiming personal independence payments (benefits available to those with a long-term condition or disability), the main condition being “obesity”.
It comes as Ms Atkins told a Nuffield Trust summit yesterday that the NHS needed a “turnaround” like Marks and Spencer to ensure its productivity plan “improves care across England”.
Announcing the appointment of former M&S chief executive Steve Rowe as NHS productivity tsar, he said: “We are on the cusp of a medical revolution, where technology, personalized therapies and better data can transform outcomes for a more health-conscious generation. than any of those who preceded them.
‘The NHS must seize this opportunity and look to the future, not limit ourselves to what has always been done. In fact, you need to have, to borrow a phrase, an M&S moment.
‘This much-loved British brand, a stalwart of our high streets for decades, realized a change was needed and embraced modernity, pivoting towards the next generation who wanted them and secured their long-term future.
“This is what the NHS needs to do to make sure it is there for the next 75 years.”