Patients needing elective care will soon have greater control over their treatment locations thanks to a major upgrade to the NHS App. The revamped app will offer choices among various providers, including those in the independent sector, aiming to reduce waiting times and empower patients.
More NHS patients who need elective care will be able to decide where they are treated in a major change to the health service’s app. The NHS App will be overhauled to give patients more choice under the elective reform plan, which is set to be announced this week.Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the move will shift the NHS 'into the digital age' and help cut waiting times 'from 18 months to 18 weeks'.
Action will also be taken to tackle missed appointments, which can be costly for the health service.Experts welcomed the move, but warned that digital innovations must not 'create new barriers' and 'come at the expense of excluding those without a smartphone'.Read more: Man in his 30s dies after falling from block of flats in east London At the moment, the NHS App can be used for the likes of booking and managing appointments, viewing health records and ordering repeat prescriptions.The upgraded platform will allow patients who need non-emergency elective treatment to choose from a range of providers, including those in the independent sector.Users will also be able to view and manage appointments, book tests and checks at convenient locations such as community diagnostic centres, receive test results, and book any necessary follow up appointments, such as a remote consultations or surgery.According to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), fewer than a quarter of patients are offered a choice of hospital to have treatment.Mr Streeting said: 'If the wealthy can choose where and when they are treated, then working class patients should be able to as well, and this Government will give them that choice.'Our plan will reform the NHS, so patients are fully informed every step of the way through their care, they are given proper choice to go to a different provider for a shorter wait, and put in control of their own healthcar
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