First nine faces of the NHS App revealed to promote uptake

The first nine faces of the NHS App have been revealed.

The frontline NHS staff members were selected as part of the NHS App Ambassadors campaign to promote the use of the app among patients.

Nearly 700 NHS staff from across England applied to be a part of the initiative when it was announced by chief nursing officer, Ruth May, in September 2019.

From those applications, an initial nine NHS staff have been selected by a panel of senior clinical leaders.

They will feature in posters, leaflets, videos, social media posts, and other content to promote the NHS App, which has more than 230,000 users.

Dr Nikki Kanani, medical director for primary care at NHS England and NHS Improvement, said: “The NHS App is another way that our primary care staff are helping patients get convenient care as part of the NHS Long Term Plan to roll out more digital services so people can manage their own care at home or at work.

“It’s great to see our frontline staff adopting the NHS App to manage their own health and wellbeing too, alongside sharing their experience with their patients and the public and getting more people to use the app.”

Recent NHS Digital statistics reveal the number of patients using the NHS App has more than doubled since the introduction of the NHS App Ambassadors scheme three months ago.

Tara Donnelly, NHSX chief digital officer, added: “NHS frontline staff are ideally placed to help patients across England to benefit from the NHS App, which is one of a growing range of digital tools available as part of our NHS Long Term Plan.

“The app is one of many online tools providing patients with a choice of how they wish to access NHS services digitally, allowing people simply, safely and securely to do things like order repeat prescriptions, manage appointments, check symptoms and view their GP medical record.”

Since September 2019, the number of registered NHS App users has risen from 91,000 to over 220,000, according to NHS Digital.

It follows the launch of the campaign, headed by May, focused on encouraging staff to download the app and promote it amongst friends, family and colleagues.

You can find out more about the staff behind the faces of the app here.