North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust is increasing patient choice by extending the number of outpatient services available for management by the patient via the free NHS app.
Following a successful trial of allowing all outpatient gastroenterology appointments to be amended or cancelled via the app, the Trust is now rolling out more services to utilise the safe and secure booking app.
New services
By the end of February, the appointment process will be available via the NHS app for the following outpatient services:
- Respiratory medicine
- Urology
- Gynaecology
- General surgery
- Clinical haematology
- Gynaecological oncology
- Pain management
- Diabetic medicine
- Endocrinology
- Assisted reproduction
- General medicine
- Chemical pathology
Kath Tarn, head of outpatients and place based care, said: “Since we began trialling the new booking system for our outpatient gastroenterology appointments, we’ve had more than 7,000 appointments managed via the app.
“Our research shows patients find the system really easy to use and it’s also reduced our number of missed appointments by an average of ten per month. Each missed appointment costs around £150 so that’s £1,500 saved every month.
“But really, the app system is all about patient choice and it’s clearly making a huge difference in how our patients manage appointments in a way that is convenient to them.
“We’ve been hard at work behind the scenes to get more services on the app and we’re sure even more patients will make use of the easy-to-use system as the other services come online.”
The new booking system, MyHealthCall PEP, is provided by digital health company NHS Health Call, who have partnered with the trust to implement this technology.
Fantastic
Ian Dove, Managing Director said: “It’s fantastic to see the impact North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust has made with MyHealthCall PEP in such a small amount of time. We created the platform to save valuable NHS appointments and make managing care as convenient as possible for patients.
“The Trust’s ability to scale this technology so quickly is a testament to their commitment to improving services for all and will only drive these savings, enabling more choice and flexibility in how patients manage their care.”
Download the app
The NHS app is available free of charge at the Apple and Google app stores.
To find out more about using the app to manage outpatient bookings at North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, visit: www.nth.nhs.uk/patients/using-the-nhs-app-for-your-appointment.
Patients who do not want to use the NHS app can still receive reminders via letter, text or email.