Hunt to announce single app to service all patients’ needs
PATIENTS WILL be able to seek health advice, book a GP appointment and read their medical records via a single app, the Health Secretary will announce.
Jeremy Hunt will today tell the Health and Care Innovation Expo in Manchester that by the end of 2018, patients in England will be able to monitor their healthcare all in one place online.
He expects them to be able to access online health advice from NHS 111, see their health record and test results and book a GP appointment. They should also be able to order repeat prescriptions, opt in or out of organ donation and get help managing any long-term condition. And patients can set preferences on how much of their personal data can be shared across the NHS.
The health record will be limited to a patient’s GP record rather than containing information about hospital care. But it will include health problems and diagnoses, test results, immunisation record, dates of consultations and a record of who has accessed the information.
At last year’s Expo, Mr Hunt announced an expansion of digital services for patients, including the existing NHS 111 non-emergency phone line to include a new online “triage” service for less serious health problems. This year, Mr Hunt will say the next 10 years of the NHS is the “decade of patient power”.
He will say: “If the NHS is going to be the safest, highest-quality healthcare system in the world, we need to do technology better.
“So today I am setting seven challenges which, if we achieve them, will make the NHS a worldbeater in the care of people with long-term conditions. People should be able to access their own medical records 24/7, show their full medical history to anyone they choose and book basic services like GP appointments or repeat prescriptions online.”
Pilot schemes are currently under way across England to test the apps. Dr Richard Vautrey, chairman of the British Medical Association’s GP committee, said: “New technologies that are created with the intention of improving access won’t solve the fundamental problem that there are simply not enough GP and nurse appointments available for patients.”
People should be able to access their own medical records 24/7. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt.