What does the pledge mean?
In its 10 Year Health Plan for England, published in June 2025, Labour announced a pledge to transform the NHS App into “a full front door to the entire NHS” by 2028.
This followed a similar, but more vague, pledge in Labour’s 2024 manifesto, which promised to improve the app so that patients could “better manage their medicine, appointments, and health needs” and provide better information on services available to them.
The 10 Year Health Plan outlines the key features that will be introduced over the next three years to achieve this, including:
- introducing a “single patient record” that will bring a patients’ scattered medical records into one place inside the app
- offering “instant advice” for non-urgent care
- introducing a My Choices feature to allow users to choose their preferred provider
- introducing a My Specialist feature to book tests
- allowing the app to host consultations—the My Consult feature
- letting users book vaccines through My Vaccines
- helping users manage long-term conditions and upload health data through My Care and My Companion respectively
- allowing users to manage their children’s healthcare through My Children.
Some features are already available on the NHS App. For example, it is currently possible to use the app if you’re registered with a GP in England to request a repeat prescription from your GP, to view and manage your GP record, and to book appointments.
The plan also promises a My Medicines feature to allow patients to manage their prescriptions. It’s not clear how this will differ from the current service.
What progress has been made?
With the publication of the 10 Year Health Plan, the government appears to have set itself a deadline of 2028, by which point it intends to have accomplished the goals outlined in this pledge.
We contacted the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England, asking them to update us on the progress made.
NHS England responded, sending us its roadmap outlining progress on the app, last updated in July 2025. The full list is visible here, but notable completed upgrades that appear to align with the promises made in the 10-year plan include:
- extending prescription tracking to cover more pharmacies
- a new version of the GP health record system
- increasing the number of hospitals that allow users to amend and cancel appointments to 102 acute trusts, six specialist trusts and three mental health trusts.
Upgrades and features currently in development include:
- reminders for repeat prescriptions
- improving online consultation services for GPs
- improving how waiting list data is communicated to users.
The roadmap does not mention any of the My Choices, My Specialist or similar features listed above. However, NHS England says the roadmap will “evolve in future to align with” the 10 Year Health Plan.
In September 2025, NHS England announced its plans to launch its “online hospital” consultation service in 2027. The NHS Online feature, it said, will be accessed via the NHS App.
