England's NHS App Gains Digital Prescription Services

[MacRumors]

NHS App users in England can now collect medication from a pharmacy without having to contact a GP or health center to get a paper prescription, according to NHS Digital.

From today, patients in England can use the NHS App to view all their prescription details, order repeat prescriptions, and generate a barcode for medication collection. The barcode replaces the traditional paper slip given by doctors.

The national rollout follows a successful pilot in late 2023. Since then, over 1 million patients have used the app to view their prescriptions. Health Secretary Victoria Atkins told the BBC the update would "ease pressures on our hardworking pharmacists and GPs - freeing up valuable time for patients and helping to cut waiting lists."

The new functionality allows patients to see the medication prescribed, the prescription type (repeat or one-off), and who the prescribing professional is. Patients who don't have a nominated pharmacy can generate a prescription barcode for collection. The app also now shows average local hospital waiting times for elective treatment, such as hip replacements.

Accessing Digital Prescriptions in the NHS App

1. Tap your health at the bottom of the screen
2. Select view and manage prescriptions.
3. Select Your approved prescriptions.
4. Tap the green button on the prescription you want to view.

NHS Digital says future developments for the service are now being explored, including prescription tracking to tell patients when medications are ready for collection.

Announced in 2018, the NHS Digital app allows more than 33 million registered users to view their health record from their GP and manage hospital appointments. The NHS app is available on iOS devices through the App Store, as well as on Android phones via Google Play.

Article Link: England's NHS App Gains Digital Prescription Services

 

[nnoble]

Great. All we need now is access to elusive GPs.

 

[Leeshore21]

This is old news. The functionality has been available since before 2021

 

[SBlue1]

This is nice. Saving me the time to go to the doc and waiting in a room full of sick people so I get catch another cold. And saving the doc time. Hope Germany is next in line for something like this.

 

[kirkmc]

Not new, but it's worth noting that this seems to be just a web app in a wrapper. I don't see all the options in the screenshots in the article. (I don't see Nominate a Pharmacy.) My GP surgery has been using the Patient Access app for years. There are many third-party apps that can interface with the NHS.

Worth noting that I've been living in the UK for 11 years, and am still stunned that it takes a week to get a repeat prescription. It used to be three days at my GP, but they extended it. When I lived in France, I took my prescription to a pharmacy and walked out a few minutes later with the drugs. Silly system in the UK, but I guess it has to do with GPs wanting to make money from having to approve each prescription, rather than setting up a longer-term prescription that doesn't need to be re-approved each month.

 

[Rankrotten]

The Healthera NHS app already exists for this. Repeat prescriptions sent to GP and ready for pickup in 24 hours up here.

 

[kirky29]

I just use Lloyds Pharmacy, my prescriptions automatically get delivered to my door every month for free.

 

[timmyh]

This is old news. The functionality has been available since before 2021

Not according to NHS England and NHS Digital. Barcode prescriptions in their app are a new thing. Perhaps you were in last year's trial?

 

[ohthehorror]

Old old news. It’s been this way in Finland for years.

 

[Greybeard2017]

Not according to NHS England and NHS Digital. Barcode prescriptions in their app are a new thing. Perhaps you were in last year's trial?

They make it sound as though requesting prescriptions using the app are a new thing - which isn't true - there have just been technical improvements.

 

[ostrykolesz]

We have had this in Poland for the past three years. Came in handy during COVID.

 

[ForkHandles]

Whilst it’s brilliant to see our amazing, free at the point of need, nationalised, socialised, healthcare system is making access easier, I don’t quite understand why it’s featured on this website. It’s an app, it’s a web browser, nothing to do with the Apple ecosystem.

 

[Guacamole]

I don't see my prescriptions there, it says not confirmed prescriptions, so I still have to call my GP when I run out

 

[Skyscraperfan]

Something like that was introduced in Germany this year and it does not work very well. In the past your doctor gave you a paper prescription. You walked into the pharmacy next door, presented that prescription and immediately got your medicine. The digital prescription should work as fast as the paper one, but sadly it does not, as doctors only approve those prescriptions in batches a few times a day, because that saves them time. So after you visited the doctor it can take HOURS before your digital prescription appear in your app. So you have to go to the pharmacy again. That is a major inconvenience especially for elder people who do not have a smartphone. They digital prescription is saved on the plastic card they got from their health insurance, but without the smartphone app their is no way to check if the prescription was already approved. So they might walk to the pharmacy and learn there that the prescription still is not on the card and they have to come back again.

So from a patient's perspective digital prescriptions are a solution in search of a problem. Paper subscriptions worked just fine.

 

[philip456]

THIRTY-THREE MILLION people have gone through the significant hassle of having their ID checked and registering with the NHS app in the UK.

There are some good reasons why there is such a high takeup for the NHS app.

Incredible and completely amazing as it may seem to our US readers, NHS prescriptions in the UK are capped at £9.65 ($12.25) and free for people under 16, over 60, with a low income or issued to inpatients in an NHS hospital.

This leads to most prescriptions going through the NHS and makes these features in the NHS app particularly useful.

 

[jonnysods]

Coming up next week: huge data breach at the NHS

 

[silas_2001]

Feels kinda old to me

In Denmark your prescription is associated with you social security number, so is it enough to inform the number at the pharmacy with the name of prescription

Also, there is an official government app, where you social security number is showed alongside the barcode, for situations where you need to scan your card

Maybe a new thing in England, but a thing that Denmark has used in a long time

Also, names of prescriptions and numbers left can also be showed on the phone

 

[timber]

Isn't how this is done everywhere?

We have been doing mandatory paperless prescriptions since 2016 (before you could still get a paper printout)

You don't have to have anything, just give your NHS number (it's called that if translated into English probably as a reference to the British NHS) at a pharmacy and they figure it out. You can also get an SMS which the codes, or a pdf or in an app but it's not necessary.

 

[User 6502]

Old old news. It’s been this way in Finland for years.

The NHS does not operate in Finland so it is not ‘old news’ that the NHS implemented these changes. If tomorrow the Finnish healthcare system introduced something that had been available elsewhere for years it would be newsworthy. If the United States introduced universal and free healthcare at the point of use this would also be newsworthy and not ‘old news’ just because it’s been that way for years in many other countries.

 

[Nimrad]

What does even prescription mean for lenses? Never heard of that here in Norway, what’s the deal? Is it just the data for your lenses?

 

[Gears]

Not sure the point of this, my docs has always just sent my prescription digitally to my nominated pharmacy directly

 

[TheLunaPark]

Pretty sure this has been a feature for a couple of years now?

 

[coffeeboat]

For anyone confused and thinking this already existed: The NHS app already allowed for requesting repeat prescriptions and having them sent directly to a nominated pharmacy.

This change allows the prescription to be sent to your phone in the form of a barcode, allowing you to go to any pharmacy (in the same way as you would with a paper form).

 

[arkitect]

What does even prescription mean for lenses? Never heard of that here in Norway, what’s the deal? Is it just the data for your lenses?

This particular app has nothing to do with lenses.

This is about medication prescriptions.

Surely you have those in Norway?

Edit:
I think you may have become confused with the Apple's requirements for their lenses to be used with Vision Pro.
And yes, lens prescriptions is common usage.

 

[bmcgrath]

This has been in the app for a few years - not sure why it's being surfaced now as a news article that it's new.