Want to see your GP? There’s an app for that
Fears for pensioner patients and privacy as NHS rushes to go digital
SCOTS patients will make GP appointments, order prescriptions and access medical records through an app, under a controversial revamp of healthcare.
It will herald the dawn of digital medicine in Scotland and the biggest change to how people engage with the NHS in a generation.
However, it will also spark concerns about excluding older people, privacy breaches and more difficulties in seeing family doctors.
There was already anger at the increase in GP telephone consultations, instead of face-to-face meetings, during the pandemic.
The recently launched Covid vaccine app was also plagued by technical problems, forcing Ministers to apologise to a frustrated public.
Health Secretary Humza Yousaf recently outlined the new plans, calling the move of more NHS services online and via an app a ‘bold and ambitious strategy’.
In a letter to the health committee, he wrote: ‘People want, and expect, to have greater choice over how – and, increasingly, when – they access their care.
‘This will look to provide citizens with access to things like health records, being able to manage appointments and prescriptions online, allow for communication with services, self-management, and the facility to update personal information and preferences.’
He added: ‘Just as digital technology was at the forefront of our response to the pandemic, it will be central to how we rebuild and remobilise the NHS as outlined in the NHS Recovery Plan.’
But the Government was warned the plans risk alienating hundreds of thousands of older patients, who are particularly reliant on the NHS but struggle to get online.
Brian Sloan, chief executive of Age Scotland, said: ‘The ongoing impact of Covid-19 has led to us progressing more quickly towards a digital by default society.
‘However, hundreds of thousands of older people are not able to or choose not to use the internet.’
Tories insisted there must be no repeat of the teething problems that beset Covid apps.
Dr Sandesh Gulhane, Scottish Tory health spokesman, said: ‘SNP Ministers must ensure this is an app fit for purpose.
‘Their launch of the vaccine passport app was a complete shambles and ultimately led to enforcement of the scheme being delayed.
‘We simply cannot see those costly errors repeated.
‘Many elderly and vulnerable patients and those living in areas with poor connectivity will be worried they will be excluded from these plans and Ministers must alleviate those concerns.’
Doctors warned it should not be assumed that more health services online will ease their workload. Dr Lewis Morrison, chairman of BMA Scotland, said: ‘Digital technology can help patients, but it mustn’t be to the detriment of those who would have difficulty using it.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘This will only be done following extensive engagement with the public, including on online identity, where personal data is controlled by the individual.’