Messaging patients through the NHS App has saved the health service more than £1m in the last year, according to NHS England (NHSE) figures.
During 2023/24, 22.5 million messages were sent through the NHS App, instead of the more traditional text message or letter.
With the average cost of sending a text message around 5p, NHSE puts its saving at a minimum of £1.1m.
The app now has over 34 million registered users, which is the equivalent of around three-quarters of the adult population in England.
Since the start of this year, the average number of logins to the app on a weekday stands at almost 1.2 million.
In March 2023, there were 18.7 million logins, whereas in the March of this year that number was closer to 31.5 million – representing a 69% jump in monthly logins over the 12-month period.
National transformation director at NHSE, Dr Vin Diwakar, said: “When we talk about the benefits of the NHS App, we usually focus on patient convenience, or the admin time saved for frontline staff – but the NHS App is also saving the NHS significant amounts of money on text messages and postal stamps, and these savings will only get larger as more features are added to the app in the future.”
Messaging through the app is also more secure and centralises information for patients.
Vin added: “By encouraging more people to use the NHS App, with notifications switched on, we can really start to reduce the estimated £450m per year that is currently spent on communicating with patients.”
NHSE says it will continue to update the app regularly as more people start to use it. To find out about the latest innovations in digital health, register for National Health Executive’s dedicated online conference this week.
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