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NHS app now has 22 million users

Usage of the app has rocketed since May 2021, and it is now the most downloaded free iPhone app in England

10th January 2022 about a 2 minute read
"The NHS App has...changed the way millions of adults in England access healthcare services in the three years since its launch, with people using the NHS App to book GP appointments, order repeat prescriptions, access the NHS Covid pass service and register organ donation decisions.” Simon Bolton, interim chief executive, NHS Digital

The NHS app, which launched on 31 December, 2018, now has 22 million users and is one of Britain’s most downloaded apps, according to NHS Digital.

Of those 22m users, 18m have registered with the app since the NHS Covid pass was introduced in May 2021. Other significant figures relating to the app include:

  • 1.1 million GP appointments have been booked (641,000 in the last six months)
  • 10.4 million repeat prescriptions have been ordered (6.2 million in the last six months)
  • 316,000 people registered their organ donation decision (171,000 in the last six months)
  • 141 million Covid passes have been generated through the app and the NHS website since the service was added in May
  • It was the most downloaded free iPhone app in England in 2021

Simon Bolton, NHS Digital’s interim chief executive, said: “The NHS app has played a central role in the fight against Covid-19, helping to enable international travel and access to major events. It has also changed the way millions of adults in England access healthcare services in the three years since its launch, with people using the NHS app to book GP appointments, order repeat prescriptions, access the NHS Covid pass service and register organ donation decisions.”

Matthew Gould, NHSX’s chief executive said that the organisation had developed the Covid pass at extraordinary speed, and kept on updating it to meet the changing needs of the country during the pandemic. He added: “It is now an important tool in keeping people safe in the face of the Omicron variant.”

Lord Kamall, the minister of innovation, said that technology had been a “lifeline” for  many during the pandemic: “Crucially, it has helped us in our fight against Covid-19. Many of us are grateful for how communications technology allowed us to keep in touch with loved ones. In addition, better technology has also helped improve our system of healthcare by allowing clinicians to remotely monitor the health of patients, enabling people to order prescriptions online and to access their Covid-19 vaccine records, making events and travel safer.”