Britons will carry a ‘doctor in their pocket’ at all times under plans to revolutionise the NHS unveiled yesterday.
The NHS App will use AI and become the ‘digital front door’ of the health service under the proposals designed to ease pressure on hospitals and GPs.
For the first time, it is claimed, patients will be able to book, move and cancel appointments through the app and receive personalised medical advice.
According to the Government’s 10 Year Health Plan, published yesterday, the changes will help put an end to the ‘8am scramble’ for a GP appointment and ensure everyone who needs a same-day consultation is able to get one.
The app, Health Secretary Wes Streeting promised, will undergo a major overhaul by 2028 to use patients’ medical records and artificial intelligence to provide instant answers to users’ questions and direct them to the best place for care.
It will mean patients can get more done without needing to speak to a real person, freeing-up appointments and phone lines for those who need them most.
Meanwhile, doctors will be able to conduct remote video consultations through the app, saving some patients the need to travel.
Patient groups last night welcomed the ‘truly exciting’ potential of the changes, but warned the move to a more digital service risked excluding the elderly.
Mr Streeting said: ‘The NHS App will become a doctor in your pocket, bringing our health service into the 21st century.
‘Patients who can afford to pay for private healthcare can currently get instant advice, remote consultations with a doctor, and choose where and when their appointments will be.
‘Our reforms will bring those services to every patient, regardless of their ability to pay.
‘The 10 Year Health Plan will make using the NHS as easy and convenient as doing your banking or shopping online.’
Dennis Reed, director of Silver Voices, which campaigns for elderly Britons, said: ‘The 10 Year Plan sounds like some distant utopia and there is a risk it will be put on a shelf and gather dust, along with others that have come before it.
Elderly people will be sceptical about whether the plan will be delivered and concerned that greater reliance on the app could exclude them from accessing timely care. For some, the doctor in their pocket will be padlocked.’
Thea Stein, chief executive of the Nuffield Trust health think-tank, said the plan contained ‘little detail on how the ailing health service is to deliver these changes’.
And Mr Streeting was warned that his plans would fail unless he fixed the ailing social care system, which got only a passing reference in the 143-page plan.
The Department of Health and Social Care said letting patients book an appointment digitally rather than using the existing ‘convoluted process’ will save the NHS £200million over three years.
They will be able to link the app to wearable technology, such as exercise trackers and blood pressure monitors, with the data uploaded to their medical records.
The AI will monitor this data and alert users to potentially concerning changes so they can seek care before they become serious.
Poorer patients with some medical conditions will be given these gadgets for free. The digital transformation will be underpinned by a new Single Patient Record, which will bring together all of a patient’s medical notes for the first time.
This will mean they do not have to repeat their medical history to each clinician they see.
Under the plan, the NHS will axe two-thirds of outpatient appointments – which currently cost a total of £14billion a year.
These will be replaced by automated information, digital advice, direct input from specialists and patient-initiated follow-ups via the NHS App.
The NHS will also embrace AI for staff, with automatic scribes taking notes for doctors and producing the first drafts of care plans. Mr Streeting last night told the Mail: ‘For staff, this means less admin, fewer missed appointments, and – best of all – more time with the people that need face-to-face care the most. For the NHS, it’s a smarter system that can deliver more and save millions of pounds.’
Patients who are unable to get an answer from the AI bot will be able to leave a question for a specialist to answer.
The app will also offer users access to their full medical records and test results and allow them to book vaccinations and self-refer for talking therapy, physiotherapy, podiatry and audiology.
Announcing the 10 Year Health Plan at an event in east London, Keir Starmer said: ‘For far too long, the NHS has been stuck in the past, reliant on letters, lengthy phone queues and even fax machines.’
The Prime Minister added: ‘Our 10 Year Health Plan will bring [the NHS] into the digital age by opening up fairer and more convenient access to healthcare.’ The PM and Mr Streeting unveiled ‘three big shifts’ in the way the NHS operates.
It will aim to move from an analogue to digital service; cut demand for treatment by preventing ill health in the first place; and shift care from hospitals to the community.
Caroline Abrahams of Age UK said: ‘The potential of the NHS App … is truly exciting, but we must also ensure that no one is left behind.’
Public libraries will run lessons on the app. Patients not comfortable using it will still be able to access care in the usual way.
Rachel Power of the Patients Association, said: ‘We welcome the ambition to expand the NHS App… but with nearly one in four facing barriers to digital access, we must ensure innovation doesn’t come at the cost of inclusion.’
