Using the NHS App
The digitalisation of healthcare has accelerated dramatically in recent years. The NHS App offers patients the ability to book appointments, order repeat prescriptions, access medical records, and manage various aspects of their healthcare entirely online.
A ‘digital-first’ approach has been embedded in policy, with the NHS 10 Year Health Plan emphasising a model to make digital services the primary route of access for healthcare interactions.
However, digital exclusion remains a significant and persistent challenge across England. Research consistently demonstrates that certain population groups including older people, those living in socioeconomic deprivation, unpaid carers, people with disabilities, and people whose first language isn’t English face, substantial barriers to accessing and using digital technology.
Why did we ask people about the NHS App?
We wanted to understand how people were currently using the NHS App, and how they'd consider using it in the future. It's important for services developing, using, and promoting online systems to understand what support they might need to put in place to help people navigate their care in this way.
With plans to gather feedback through the NHS App in the future, we also wanted to understand people's thoughts on this.
18 Local Healthwatch across England - including Healthwatch Sheffield - ran a survey about people's awareness, usage, and trust of the NHS App. Together, we heard from 1,717 people.
Key findings
The report from Local Healthwatch across England shares a number of key findings about people's use of the NHS app - and barriers or concerns that health and care providers will need to be aware of when encouraging people to use digital technology:
- Overall NHS App usage is highest among 25–64 year-olds but drops steeply among older adults: those most likely to rely on health services.
- For people who do not use the app, the primary reasons are behavioural preferences rather than technical barriers: preferring to speak to someone face to face or over phone. However, digital exclusion is still a concern for some.
- Among those who do use the app, engagement is mostly passive (eg viewing medical records or messages), rather than active management of their own healthcare.
- Many respondents stressed the need for a simpler design and better integration across NHS systems.
- Just over half of respondents (53%) said they would use the app to give feedback about their healthcare. However, concerns about privacy, anonymity, trust, and impartiality were common.
- Confidence in using the NHS App to get help is low overall but declines sharply with age.
What about the local picture?
We are sharing the national report, alongside a shorter briefing sharing findings from Sheffield, below.
Findings from Sheffield largely mirror the national findings. There are a few exceptions, including:
- More people in Sheffield said being shown how to use the NHS App would make it easier for them to use - they wanted this support.
- Fewer people in Sheffield would feel comfortable using the NHS App to share feedback about their care - many wanted to speak to someone independent.
We hope that both the national and local findings will be helpful to health and social care providers, in particular with those that are developing and promoting digital services. We recommend that further work is done to better understand people’s usage of the app, barriers to accessing it, and what support people need, as care navigation becomes increasingly digital.
Downloads
If you need this report in a different format, please email info@healthwatchsheffield.co.uk or call 0114 253 6688.
