NHS app will monitor patients’ step counts and heart rates 'to help people get back to work'
8 March 2024, 08:05
The NHS app will monitor people’s step counts as part of government plans to make people healthier and get them working again.
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The revamped NHS app will be form part of a £3.4bn investment into new technology that was announced in the Budget.
The app will tap into step counts and heart rates which are already monitored on many phones, to give personalised health advice and suggest potential screenings and treatments.
The Budget funding will help pay for more modern computers, AI assistants to write up doctors’ notes and link up patient records faster.
Health secretary Victoria Atkins said “a strong NHS helps a growing economy.”
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About £430m will be spent on the new app and new phone services.
Ms Atkins told The Times: “If you think of the data that we have on our phones, healthcare is absolutely going to be there encouraging people to find out what is a healthy lifestyle for them. How can they help quit smoking, talking therapies on the NHS App … these are all things that are going to be helping us in future.”
The funding announced in the budget includes £2 billion for modern computers and tablets along with electronic record systems and upgrading scanner software.
A further £1 billion will introduce an NHS staff app to make it easier for staff to move employment records around the system.
