NHS unveils ‘Faces of the NHS App’

21 Jan 2020 01:30 PM

The NHS has revealed the first nine frontline NHS staff members who have been selected to become the ‘Faces’ of a campaign to promote the NHS App to patients.

Image shows the nine new 'Faces of the NHS App' using the app on their phones.

The nine 'Faces of the NHS App'.

The NHS has revealed the first nine frontline NHS staff members who have been selected to become the ‘Faces’ of a campaign to promote the NHS App to patients.

Nearly 700 NHS staff from across England applied to be a part of the initiative when it was announced by Chief Nursing Officer, Ruth May, in September 2019.

From those applications, an initial nine NHS staff have been selected by a panel of senior clinical leaders. They have been unveiled one-a-day by NHS Digital and NHSX via social media over the Christmas period.

They will feature in posters, leaflets, videos, social media posts, and other content that is being created to help promote the NHS App, which already has more than 230,000 users.

More people than ever are booking NHS appointments digitally, choosing to use this route rather than calling their local surgery. In September 2019 there were 1.4million GP online service appointment transactions with an increasing number of digital tools being used by people across England to access the NHS.

The NHS App provides a simple and secure way for people to access a range of NHS services on their smartphone or tablet. Available to download on all IOS and Android devices, it allows you to manage repeat prescriptions and book appointments at your GP surgery.

You can find out more about the initial nine ‘Faces of the App’ here: https://digital.nhs.uk/services/nhs-app/faces-of-the-nhs-app

Dr Nikki Kanani, medical director for primary care at NHS England and NHS Improvement and a London GP, yesterday said:

“The NHS App is another way that our primary care staff are helping patients get convenient care as part of the NHS Long Term Plan to roll out more digital services so people can manage their own care at home or at work.

“It’s great to see our frontline staff adopting the NHS App to manage their own health and wellbeing too, alongside sharing their experience with their patients and the public and getting more people to use the app.”

Tara Donnelly, NHSX Chief Digital Officer yesterday said:

“NHS frontline staff are ideally placed to help patients across England to benefit from the NHS App, which is one of a growing range of digital tools available as part of our NHS Long Term Plan.

“The App is one of many online tools providing patients with a choice of how they wish to access NHS services digitally, allowing people simply, safely and securely to do things like order repeat prescriptions, manage appointments, check symptoms and view their GP medical record.”

Ian Phoenix, Director of Technology for Citizen Health at NHS Digital yesterday said:

“Patients want to be able to take control of their own health in their own way and this group of front line staff who use the NHS App can demonstrate from their personal experiences how it is of benefit to them and how it could benefit others.

“Our staff are patients too and will be great advocates for using digital tools such as the NHS App. We’re excited about working with them over the coming months.”

Lauren Pickup, a midwife from Leeds and one of our ‘Faces of the App’, yesterday said:

"I use the NHS App to book GP appointments and order my repeat prescriptions to help manage my kidney condition."

Sarah Thompson, a pharmacist and mum-to-be from Stockport, also a ‘Face of the App’, says the app makes it easier for her to manage her pregnancy:

“I recently needed to know my NHS number so it’s been useful to use the NHS App to access my record and manage my appointments rather than spending ages on the phone.”

Notes for Editors

  1. You can find out more about the NHS App here: www.nhs.uk/app
  2. NHSX’s approach, as laid out in the NHS Long Term Plan and Secretary of State’s tech vision, is to use Application Programming Interfaces (APIs – the means through which different pieces of software can interact and integrate) to enable innovators to plug in and use national services to benefit patients and healthcare professionals.
  3. All photos in this release and on the Faces of the App web page it links to are available for you to use – credit NHS Digital. If you require the original high-res copy of any of these photos we can supply them to you – email media@nhsdigital.nhs.net to request it.