The NHS is encouraging people to gift their loved ones the NHS App this Christmas, so they can order prescriptions, manage appointments and check test results over the festive period.
As the health service combats its busiest ever start to winter, the NHS wants to ensure that patients have easy access to care, amid a rapid rise of seasonal viruses such as flu, RSV, norovirus and COVID-19.
People can ensure they do not run out of vital medicines over the Christmas period at the touch of a button instead of needing to call into a pharmacy or ring their GP.
With latest data showing people aged 50-70 logged in to use the app 19.3 million times in November (an 80% increase on Nov 2023), the NHS is encouraging millions more people to “unwrap the NHS App” this Christmas with a new list of 12 ways people can manage their health on their smartphone.
New features are being added to the NHS App regularly as the NHS encourages more people to use the app in their everyday lives.
Earlier this month, the NHS set out reforms to ensure more women can make the most of cancer screening at the touch of a button, announcing the rollout of a new “ping and book” service that will send alerts to phones to remind women they are due or overdue an appointment, to help improve uptake and save thousands of lives.
The plans began with invitations for breast screening being sent directly through the NHS App and will be expanded to include cervical screening in Spring 2025, with new functionality being developed to enable millions to book screening through the app next year.
As the app approaches its sixth birthday, latest data shows the number of people using the app to manage their health has increased by nearly 50% over the past year – with 10.6 million logging in to use the app last month compared to 7.3 million in November 2023.
The number of repeat prescriptions ordered has risen by 47% over the last year (3.2 million in November 2023 to 4.7 million in November 2024) and the number of visits to the app’s test results section (by users with cookies enabled) has increased by 126% (2.9 million in November 2023 to 6.6 million in November 2024).
Dr Vin Diwakar, National Transformation Director at NHS England, said: “The NHS is going into winter busier than ever before with the threat of an unprecedented “quad-demic”, so we want to make sure that people know the best way to access care.
“The NHS App is available 24 hours a day for everything from ordering a repeat prescription to checking advice on a medical condition, so you can ensure your Christmas isn’t ruined because you have run out of vital medicines.
“So, I would encourage anyone who doesn’t have the NHS App on their phone, or has not used it for a while, to unwrap the app this Christmas to help them stay well over the festive season.
“As ever, please continue to use A&E and 999 in life-threatening emergencies or use 111 Online through the NHS App for less urgent conditions.”
The 12 ways of using the NHS App this Christmas are:
Medications
1. Order a repeat prescription
2. Nominate a pharmacy to make it easier to collect prescriptions
3. Find your nearest pharmacy that’s open
4. Check NHS advice on taking different medicines
Health advice
5. Check if you need urgent medical help using 111 online
6. Have your GP health record to hand when you’re on the move
7. Find Services near you like sexual health clinics and dentists
8. Check your health status for your new year resolutions with the BMI, BP and Heart Age tool
Appointments
9. Check and manage hospital appointments and GP ones
10. Turn on message notifications to avoid missing appointments from your GP and Hospital
Get involved in improving the NHS
11. Sign up to be part of health research
12. Have your say on making the NHS fit for the future
Find out more details on how to register with the NHS App.