NHS App evaluation
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Qualitative evaluation of the national rollout of the NHS App in England
IRAS ID
291627
Contact name
John Powell
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Oxford
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 7 months, 16 days
Research summary
Summary of Research
The NHS in England have introduced a new smartphone app for patients, called ‘the NHS App’. This app has been available to everyone in England from July 2019.People are able to use the App to see their medical records, book appointments, order repeat prescriptions, set their organ donation preferences register, have online consultations and undertake other tasks related to their health and care.
This research will look at what people think about the NHS App, whether they use it to do the things it was designed for, and whether it changes how people use the NHS.
The research will use interviews and discussion groups (either virtually or face-to-face) with people who use the App, and with doctors and other staff who work in the NHS (such as receptionists, practice managers, those involvement in the development of the App and those informing NHS policy). These interviews and discussion groups will try to understand what these people think about the App, how they use it or tell others about the APP, and what impact it has on their lives and their work. We will also sit (either virtually or face-to-face, if possible) with people and watch how they use the App in real life.
We will work closely with the NHS England and NHSX team who developed the App so that we can learn from their experience, and we can feedback our findings to help them improve the App. Patients and the public have been very involved in the development of the App and we will continue to work closely with both groups to help design, undertake and analyse this study by creating a new group of members of the public to help us do this. We will also work with our public group to help communicate our findings.
Summary of Results
This research explored the challenges of introducing the NHS App into general practice, particularly during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. We focused on assessing the complexity of this new healthcare technology, exploring and highlighting the many factors that influenced the app’s rollout.Key Insights:
The NHS App exposed challenges in the healthcare system:
- Many patients noticed that their health information did not match across different NHS services (e.g., GP vs. hospital records).
- The app was more useful for people managing long-term conditions through their GP (e.g., ordering prescriptions, checking test results).
- However, those needing specialist care (e.g., for Parkinson’s, HIV, diabetes) found the app less helpful.
Understanding and using the NHS App was not always easy
- Patients needed a good understanding of the healthcare system to use the app effectively.
- Many relied on GP staff to help them access the app and navigate its features.
- Not all features (like booking appointments) were available to everyone, as individual GP practices controlled what app functions were enabled (according to whether the app was able to meet practice needs and priorities, and guidance from policymakers).
The NHS App did not always fit well with how GP practices worked
- Online appointment booking was designed as a simple transaction, but in reality it was much more complex for practices to provide this access (for example, the huge number of different types of appointments available).
- Access to medical records varied between practices, with some restricting access due to privacy concerns (GDPR) or staff uncertainty about how to enable access to patients on their IT systems.The COVID-19 pandemic increased awareness of the NHS App
- The introduction of the COVID Pass made the app more valuable to both patients and GP practices.
- Despite extensive user research, the app’s design focused more on patients, rather than healthcare staff who needed to provide access for patients to use it and enable features.
- Some GP practices received more support than others, leading to an inconsistent rollout.Patients found some features very useful
- Online prescription ordering was especially valued.
- Security features like fingerprint scanning were appreciated, particularly by those with sensitive medical conditions.
- Access to medical records helped some patients feel more in control of their health, but the usefulness of the app changed over time as features were added, removed, or became less relevant.Finding the right balance between access and safeguarding is difficult
- Many people wanted access to their own health records, but practices had to balance this with protecting patient privacy, knowledge about enabling access, and additional workload.
- Some GP staff worried about how patients might interpret old medical information without proper guidance.Conclusion
The NHS App rollout highlighted existing gaps in the healthcare system, as well as challenges in technology adoption, patient support, and GP practice workflows. While it provided benefits like easier prescription ordering, issues around unclear value, access, privacy concerns, and system integration meant it did not fully meet the needs of all patients or practices. The COVID-19 pandemic boosted knowledge and interest in the app, but long-term engagement likely depends on improving communication, support for GP staff, and ensuring digital tools do not worsen health inequalities.REC name
West of Scotland REC 3
REC reference
21/WS/0031
Date of REC Opinion
2 Mar 2021
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion