The NHS App has introduced a new feature that allows patients to track the status of their prescriptions.
During the HETT conference in London on 24 September 2024, Nishali Patel, clinical lead for digital medicines at NHS England, announced the trial of prescription tracking at three community pharmacies in England.
Patients have expressed a desire to know when their medications are ready for collection, prompting the rollout of prescription tracking at select pharmacy sites. By 2025, patients will also be able to nominate online pharmacies through the app.
Improvements to the medication ordering process are also on the horizon to streamline the journey from ordering to collection, with Patel confirming the addition of more community pharmacies to the pilot program.
The pilot program, involving pharmacy dispensing suppliers such as Apotech, Invatech, Boots, and Cegedim, aims to ensure technical stability before wider implementation, targeting 30% of community pharmacies in England by April 2025.
The NHS App, catering to approximately 8.5 million users monthly, plans to introduce more features including integration with digital health check, proxy access requests, patient engagement boards, and expanded messaging capabilities. Further integration with messaging providers and GP online consultation tools is also on the agenda.
The developments follow a report by Lord Darzi highlighting the potential of the app to provide a more ‘digital-first’ experience, aligning with the evolving digital landscape of healthcare.
