Since May 2024, volunteers from our Health Navigators project, run in partnership with NHS South West London Integrated Care System, have been visiting Faccini House Surgery in Morden specifically to support patients to use the NHS App.
Launched six years ago, the NHS App has already been downloaded by 31 million people in England and Wales. Users can do a whole range of time-saving tasks including booking appointments, ordering repeat prescriptions, viewing their health records, managing referrals and more all in one place.
Not only time-saving for patients, the NHS App is seen as key for transforming the Health Service. According to NHS Digital, every repeat prescription fulfilled through the NHS App will save the GP three minutes. More than 13.5 million hours of doctors’ time is being lost each year in England due to delays resulting from ‘inadequate or malfunctioning IT systems and equipment’ – the equivalent of almost 8,000 full time doctors, or nearly £1 billion. (source: British Medical Association)
Our Health Navigators are key to ensuring that patients, regardless of their technical confidence, can benefit from using the NHS App. Over 100 patients at Faccini House Surgery have been shown how to use it by our volunteers such as Chrys Newman and Pam Foulks. Chrys and Pam also took the starring role in short films produced by NHS South West London Integrated Care System earlier this year.
“It makes booking appointments so easy. You just open the NHS App. It saves you having to sit on the phone and wait.” Chrys Newman, volunteer Health Navigator
“When ordering a repeat prescription, I find it really useful that I can tick the boxes on my phone and don’t have to rush over to the GP surgery.” Pam Foulks, volunteer Health Navigator
"Great work by the Health Navigators and SVC Team! That' s over 30 more patients a month now being able to use the NHS app from one practice. Good to see this and reducing health inequalities across Sutton." Dr Vidhya Thiagamoorthy, MRCP, MRCGP DFSRH DRCOG, Partner at the Grove Road Practice and Chair of the Sutton Londonwide Local Medical Committee (LMC), the clinically led independent voice of GPs in the capital.
As well as supporting patients to use the NHS App, our Health Navigators conduct free health and wellbeing checks for residents and ensure that everyone has access to vital health information. Residents can come along to a session and have various health checks done including BMI and blood pressure.
Sessions take place not only at GP surgeries and health centres but in settings throughout the community including assisted living housing, community groups, leisure centres, libraries and community events.
