The challenge
As part of the national Primary Care Access Recovery Plan (PCARP) programme of work issued by NHS England, NECS was commissioned by North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (NENC ICB) to provide support to GPs within the local area.
Recognising the diverse needs and challenges faced by GPs, NECS set up the Primary Care Digital Support Hub (PCDSH) as part of the PCARP work delivered in 2024-25.
The PCDSH created a digital journey questionnaire, the outputs of which could be used, by way of a response document, to identify what support a practice may need and to ensure that they, and their patients, are benefitting from the appropriate use of digital tools.
Gainford Surgery completed the PCDSH digital journey questionnaire, and a meeting was booked to attend the practice in August 2024, to review and walk through their responses.
Using NHS App data available via the national App dashboard, and the practice’s responses, it was identified that the practice would welcome support with increasing awareness and utilisation of the NHS App with their patients.
As of June 2024, the practice had approximately 3,276 registered patients. In the same month, the NHS App data was established using 3-month average baselines for the following categories:
- Record views – 1,008
- Repeat medication prescription ordering – 198
- Logins – 1,528
Our response
The practice was provided with an earlier version of the published PCDSH NHS App Implementation Plan by the NECS Project Manager. Work then began on executing the actions in the plan, with the intention to promote the App in practice, on social media, on the practice website etc.
Outcomes
As of January 2025, the NHS App data established new 3-month averages baselines due to the success of the practice promoting the App.
These were:
- Logins – Increased by 41.5%*
- Record views – Increased by 27%*
- Repeat medication prescription ordering – Increased by 27%*
*Since June 2024
The practice is now compliant with Prospective Record Access, which is a service that provides patients with access to their records, either from December 2023 or the day they registered with the practice and for online services.
As a result of the practice’s efforts to promote the NHS App and their continued compliance with Prospective Record Access, they have realised benefits for their workforce and their patients.
These are:
• An increase in the percentage of patients signing up for NHS App to enable them to take ownership and control of their health record if they choose to do so.
• Improved patient experience. Patients can access their health record online at a time convenient to them.
• Improved practice efficiency by streamlining work processes to adapt access to patient records to include the digital electronic patient record.
“I think that the NHS App Implementation Plan is really helpful document that provides a structure to support, making changes and promoting the app to patients.”