Scotland’s Digital Front Door platform ‘goes beyond’ the NHS App

The Scottish government says that its plan for a Digital Front Door platform “goes beyond” the NHS App because it will include access to both health and social care data and services. 

Wes Streeting, health secretary, announced plans on 21 October 2024 to bring together a single patient record in England, summarising patient health information, test results and letters in one place, through the NHS App, with the aim of allowing individuals to have more control over their records and enable frontline staff  to view “the full picture of patients’ health”.

However the Scottish government told Digital Health News that it will not adopt the NHS App and remains committed to the Digital Front Door platform it has been developing since early 2022, which will encompass both NHS and social care.

The Digital Front Door will allow people to access, self-manage, and contribute to their own health and care information online, providing digital notifications, access to personal health information and options for patients to interact directly with health and social care services.

It is planned to be available by the end of the current parliamentary term at Holyrood in May 2025, as part of a key commitment in Scotland’s Digital Health and Care Strategy to deliver a platform for people to get direct access to their health and care information and to health and care services.

A spokesperson for the Scottish government said: “The NHS App was developed to support NHS trusts in England. This is not something we can adopt in Scotland as it is configured specifically to the IT infrastructure in England.

“Therefore, the Digital Front Door programme was created to develop and deliver similar functionality into a range of different services across health and care in Scotland.

“This goes beyond an NHS app as it will also cover social care.”

They added that the Scottish government has “engaged directly with those involved in the development of the NHS App and they will support the Digital Front Door programme going forward”.

“We are working with NHS England and Wales to learn from each other and ensure common approaches, especially around interfacing with digital systems used commonly across the UK,” they said.

In June 2024, Neil Gray, Scotland’s health minister, announced a programme of reform in Parliament, emphasising the role technology and innovation will play in accelerating and enriching health and social care reforms, empowering people, liberating clinicians, driving efficiency and preventing ill-health.

This was followed by the 2024-25 Programme for Government, published on 4 September 2024, which outlined plans for a personalised digital health and care service as part of a five-year plan.

Scotland’s personalised digital health and care service draws together three major programmes – the Digital Front Door, the National Digital Platform, and the Integrated Social Care and Health Record, that are set out in Scotland’s Digital Health and Care Strategy and its supporting Delivery Plan 2024-25.

A spokesperson for the Scottish government told Digital Health News that no contract has been awarded to a supplier for the Digital Front Door platform.