Chris Whitehouse, a political consultant and expert on medical technology policy and regulation at Whitehouse Communications, an advisor to MedTech suppliers, chair of the Urology Trade Association, and governor of the Anscombe Bioethics Centre, highlights further developments in the functionality of the NHS App.
Millions of patients can now track their prescriptions thanks to the rollout of a new feature in the NHS App helping to reduce unnecessary calls and visits to pharmacies, which have been complaining of spiralling workloads and inadequate revenues.
NHS England announced on May 23 that nearly 1,500 high street chemists are now offering the service, which enables patients to check on their prescriptions through real-time “Amazon-style” updates.
Almost half (45%) of phone calls to community pharmacies are estimated to be from patients asking if their prescription is ready, with the new service helping to free up time for pharmacists to provide advice to patients.
Instead of phoning up, patients can instead track their prescriptions by logging in to the app to see if their medicines are “ready to collect” or “dispatched by pharmacy” if they are being delivered.
The service is expected to be made available to nearly 5,000 more pharmacies over the next 12 months – covering 60% of those in England.
Dr Vin Diwakar, Clinical Transformation Director at NHS England, said: “We know that people want more control over how they manage their healthcare and the new prescription tracking feature in the NHS App offers exactly that.
“You will now get a near real-time update in the app that lets you know when your medicine is ready so you can avoid unnecessary trips or leaving it until the last minute to collect.
Putting the latest technology in the hands of patients and staff is at the heart of the government’s plans to cut waiting lists and improve care through the Plan for Change. The development is consistent with Health Secretary, Wes Streeting’s, call for the NHS to move from analogue to digital wherever possible.
Latest data shows the NHS App now has 37.4 million registered users with an average of 11.4 million people logging in each month to manage their healthcare.
The new prescription tracker builds on another app feature which allows people without a nominated pharmacy to use a barcode to collect their prescription – with an average of 2.1 million views of digital prescription barcodes each month.
Prescriptions for people who have already set up a nominated pharmacy are sent electronically to their chosen pharmacy, meaning they don’t need a barcode or paper prescription for collection.
The number of repeat prescriptions ordered through the app has also increased by 40% from 3.9 million in April 2024 to 5.5 million in April 2025.
More details on how to register with the NHS App are available at www.nhs.uk/nhs-app.
The Author used AI in preparing this article, comments upon or questions about which can be addressed to chris.whitehouse@whitehousecomms.com.
