UK NHS BLOCKS HEALTH APP OVER CONTROVERSY

LONDON: Health chiefs are blocking plans to expand a controversial phone app for patients.

GP in Hand, currently operating in London, is said to relieve front-line services by letting users contact a doctor via a smartphone.

More than 26 500 people had signed up, including Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who said he wanted to see the technology “available to all”.

But a bid to roll out the service in Birmingham by app owner Babylon Health was thwarted by NHS England, which feared patients would miss tests or treatment because they had to deregister from their local GP.

And GP leaders said online-only consultations could miss serious but less obvious symptoms.