NHS partners with libraries to enhance App uptake

The NHS has announced a new partnership with libraries across England to help more people access online health services and the NHS App.

The scheme, in partnership with The National Health Literacy Partnership, will officially launch in October – with NHS England contacting public libraries and NHS libraries in the coming weeks to provide toolkits and information.

Libraries already play a vital role in making online services more accessible and according to a recent survey by Ipsos, librarians are the third most trusted profession in Britain.

By providing librarians with the right tools and support, they will be able to play a key part in helping people to use the NHS App and NHS.UK to better understand and manage their health.

John Quinn, Chief Information Officer at NHS England, and a former librarian said: “Public libraries are at the heart of our communities and offer a significant opportunity to reach those who face barriers when it comes to accessing their health information online.

“The NHS App has more than 34 million registered users and we want to ensure no-one is excluded from using this service.

“My first profession was a librarian, and it was amazing training for the role I do today. Librarians have always been at the forefront of providing services to communities and getting information to people at the right time.”

Louise Goswami, Chief Knowledge Officer for the NHS in England said: "We are delighted to see this development with libraries, which builds on the great work we already do with the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals and public library colleagues, where we have trained 178 health literacy trainers in NHS libraries and run health literacy pilots at 14 public library sites.

“Through these pilots we learned that people were happy to be shown how to use NHS.uk by public library staff, so this phased rollout through public libraries will help even more people to access and make the most of their health information online.”

Work is already underway in a small number of libraries across England to support people to get started with the NHS App.

Marta Fischer is a Digital Access Lead for Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West ICB and also an ambassador for the NHS App.

She holds digital cafes in her local libraries for those who want to use the NHS App but need a bit of extra help getting started.

Marta said: “People find it really easy to use once I talk them through it, they find being able to see test results and their records online helpful.

“Sometimes people presume all those over a certain age can’t use technology, but many of the patients I work with already use apps and appreciate how easy the NHS App makes it to order their repeat prescriptions online and help them keep track of their healthcare.”

New figures show that pensioners are the most active users of the NHS App – with more than 5 million having registered with the NHS App – and almost half of them having used it in March to May 2024.

That compares to around one in four users in their 20s and around one in three users in their 30s.

Health Minister Stephen Kinnock said: “The NHS App has a vital role to play in getting our health service back on its feet – and this scheme will help boost access across the country. 

“We will transform the app, putting patients in control of their own health to better manage their medicine, appointments, and health needs.”

The NHS App, which is owned and run by NHS England, was used by 12 million people during March to May 2024, 2.3 million aged 66 and over.

Of these, 309,474 users were in their 80s and 34,451 users were aged 90 and over.

Figures also show that 11.6 million repeat prescriptions were ordered via the NHS App in those three months, including 3.1 million by pensioners.

More than 35 million have now registered for the NHS App since its launch in December 2018.

The NHS App is home to a range of features that enable patients to access services from the comfort of their homes – from viewing their GP health record to nominating their preferred pharmacy.

New and innovative features continue to be rolled out onto the NHS App to help patients access convenient and high-quality care when and where they need it.

Patients in many parts of the country are now able to view and manage their hospital appointments on the App, and many GP practices are now sending NHS App notifications to patients with appointment reminders and other messages relating to their care.