A feature allowing patients to track the status of their prescription has gone live for nearly 1,500 pharmacies, NHS England has announced.
All Boots stores are among the pharmacies offering the service, with 5,000 more expected to join in the next year, covering 60% of England, the commissioner said.
The feature enables patients to check if their medicines are ready with real-time updates using the NHS App.
This is aimed at freeing up time for community pharmacies dealing with phone calls from patients asking if their medicines are available to collect, according to the Government.
The NHS App will also show when medicines have been ‘dispatched by pharmacy’, if they are being delivered, and patients are being encouraged to use it during the bank holiday weekend to order repeat prescriptions or check medical advice.
Latest figures show the NHS App has 37.4 million users and 5.5 million repeat prescriptions were ordered through it in April, a 40% rise from the previous year.
NHS England clinical transformation director Dr Vin Diwakar 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.’
Pharmacists will be freed up to spend more of their time providing health services and advice to patients, he added.
Health secretary Wes Streeting, said: ‘If patients can track the journey of their food shop, they should be able to do the same with their prescriptions.
‘This is just one example of our mission to shift the NHS from analogue to digital as we continue to push our health service into the modern age through our Plan for Change.’
National Pharmacy Association chair Olivier Picard said it could be a ‘game-changer’ if rolled out equitably.
He said: ‘It’s important that this new prescription tracking feature is quickly made available to all independent community pharmacies, who collectively represent the majority of pharmacies in England. This will help maximise the benefit of the service for patients across the country.’
Earlier this year, NHS England claimed that GP time equivalent to more than 400,000 hours was saved through the use of the NHS App last year.
It comes after NHS England launched efforts to encourage the use of the app, including a campaign last year focusing on its functionalities such as GP record access and test results, repeat prescriptions and viewing appointments already booked. Library staff across England were also involved to help people access it and increase the use of the app.
