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Magazine Opinions digital Health Health apps Health Service Matt Hancock NHS shadow cabinet The Labour Party

Tech in the NHS—A new way to reach vulnerable patients

Seize the opportunity to widen access

By Jon Ashworth  
June 11, 2019
July 2019

Jeremy Hunt had promised a “paperless NHS,” but reams of paper are still used every day. PHOTOFUSION/SHUTTERSTOCK

The NHS recently launched an app. In theory it should allow me to book a GP appointment, check symptoms, order repeat prescriptions or register to be an organ donor—all from my smartphone. 

It seems my life is increasingly governed by my phone, from ordering shopping, paying the electricity bill or booking my daughters’ afterschool clubs—so why shouldn’t my interactions with the NHS be made smoother? 

Yet minutes after following the cumbersome registration process…

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Jon Ashworth

Shadow Health Secretary and Labour MP for Leicester South

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