NHS App now able to alert 'millions' when their prescription is ready
A new feature that many patients have previously called for is now available via the NHS App for 'millions' of people, according to an NHS England (NHSE) announcement.
The prescription tracking feature will tell people via the App if their medicines are ready to collect or if they've been dispatched for delivery.
Nearly 1,500 high street chemists – including every Boots in England – are now offering the service, according to NHSE. It will be made available to nearly 5,000 more pharmacies over the next 12 months – covering 60% of those in England.
Almost half (45%) of phone calls to community pharmacies are estimated to be from patients asking if their prescription is ready, and NHSE says the new service will help to free up time for pharmacists to provide advice to patients.
"We know that people want more control over how they manage their healthcare and the new prescription tracking feature in the NHS App offers exactly that.
“You will now get a near real-time update in the app that lets you know when your medicine is ready so you can avoid unnecessary trips or leaving it until the last minute to collect."
Dr Vin Diwakar, Clinical Transformation Director at NHS England
"This is just one example of our mission to shift the NHS from analogue to digital as we continue to push our health service into the modern age through our Plan for Change.
"Latest data shows the NHS App now has 37.4 million registered users with an average of 11.4 million people logging in each month to manage their healthcare.
"The new prescription tracker builds on another app feature which allows people without a nominated pharmacy to use a barcode to collect their prescription – with an average of 2.1 million views of digital prescription barcodes each month."
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting