Millions of patients can now track their prescriptions thanks to the rollout of a new feature in the NHS App helping to reduce unnecessary calls and visits to pharmacies.
NHS England today announced that nearly 1,500 high street chemists – including every Boots in England – are now offering the service, which enables patients to check on their prescriptions through real-time “Amazon-style” updates.
Almost half (45%) of phone calls to community pharmacies are estimated to be from patients asking if their prescription is ready, with the new service helping to free up time for pharmacists to provide advice to patients.
Instead of phoning up, patients can instead track their prescriptions by logging in to the app to see if their medicines are “ready to collect” or “dispatched by pharmacy” if they are being delivered.
The service is expected to be made available to nearly 5,000 more pharmacies over the next 12 months – covering 60% of those in England.
NHS App users are also being encouraged to use the app during the bank holiday weekend to order repeat prescriptions or check medical advice.
For non-urgent medical help, people can contact NHS 111 and those in life-threatening emergencies should call 999.
Dr Vin Diwakar, Clinical Transformation Director at NHS England, said: “We know that people want more control over how they manage their healthcare and the new prescription tracking feature in the NHS App offers exactly that.
“You will now get a near real-time update in the app that lets you know when your medicine is ready so you can avoid unnecessary trips or leaving it until the last minute to collect.
“The new Amazon-style feature will also help to tackle the administrative burden on pharmacists, so that they can spend more of their time providing health services and advice to patients rather than updates on the status of their prescriptions.”
The rollout follows plans for millions of patients to receive a cost-of-living boost as the government froze prescription charges for the first time in 3 years, putting money back into the pockets of working people.
Putting the latest technology in the hands of patients and staff is at the heart of the government’s plans to cut waiting lists and improve care through the Plan for Change.
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting, said:”If patients can track the journey of their food shop, they should be able to do the same with their prescriptions.
“By harnessing the power and efficiency of modern tech, we’re saving patients time, driving productivity and freeing up hardworking pharmacists to do what they do best – helping patients, not providing status updates.
“This is just one example of our mission to shift the NHS from analogue to digital as we continue to push our health service into the modern age through our Plan for Change.”
Latest data shows the NHS App now has 37.4 million registered users with an average of 11.4 million people logging in each month to manage their healthcare.
The new prescription tracker builds on another app feature which allows people without a nominated pharmacy to use a barcode to collect their prescription – with an average of 2.1 million views of digital prescription barcodes each month.
Prescriptions for people who have already set up a nominated pharmacy are sent electronically to their chosen pharmacy, meaning they don’t need a barcode or paper prescription for collection.
The number of repeat prescriptions ordered through the app has also increased by 40% from 3.9 million in April 2024 to 5.5 million in April 2025.
Anne Higgins, Pharmacy Director at Boots, said: “We know our patients are looking for more convenient ways to manage their repeat prescriptions, which is why we’re pleased to partner with NHS England to launch these new updates on the NHS App and through Boots Online Prescriptions.
“For the first time, when a patient orders their prescription via the NHS App and they’ve nominated a Boots pharmacy to dispense it, they can view its journey at every key step of the process.
“This will remove the need for patients to call our pharmacy team for updates on their prescription so they can spend more time with patients and deliver vital services like NHS Pharmacy First.”
This prescription tracking feature is just one of many planned improvements to the NHS App, which will soon expand to offer patients more appointment options and greater choice as part of the government’s commitment to put patients in control of their healthcare and reduce waiting lists.
More details on how to register with the NHS App are available at www.nhs.uk/nhs-app.
