Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust (NLAG) has launched new features within the NHS App for patients to access and manage their appointments.
The new features went live on 14 February, enabling patients to see and manage their GP referrals and hospital appointments and, in time, their letters and waiting times.
Healthcare Communications, which has a longstanding relationship with NLAG, has worked with the app national programme team to integrate its patient portal for the trust’s patients.
The initiative is designed to be vendor-agnostic, with patient communication suppliers from all participating trusts working together alongside NHS England.
NLAG is one of 23 NHS acute trusts to launch the new NHS App features.
Advancing digital tech
Its chief information officer, Shauna McMahon, said: “When we learnt that NHS England was planning to integrate patient communications into the NHS App in this way, we immediately put ourselves forward.
“We are committed to advancing our digital technology to enhance patient care, providing improved patient experience and reaping the rewards through better operational efficiencies. This project will help us to build on the significant gains that we have already seen following the introduction of our Healthcare Communications digital patient engagement portal.”
NLAG launched its patient portal in June 2021, which enabled it to send patient appointment letters digitally and provide SMS appointment reminders that enable patients to cancel or rebook their appointment.
