Patient and professional experiences of using digital tools in primary care: Year 4 report

This is a report by Healthwatch Norfolk. The project looks at digital tools in healthcare and people's experiences.

In Year 4 of this project - the first year of the extended contract commissioned by the Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board – Healthwatch Norfolk continue to explore how people in the region engage with the NHS App and the Shared Care Record (ShCR).

This time, the research on people’s engagement with the NHS App focuses specifically on two demographic groups in the East of England that have lower numbers of registered users compared to the rest of the population: young people aged 16–30 and older adults aged 65 and above. The study aims to understand how these groups perceive and use the NHS App, identify the challenges they face, and develop recommendations to encourage greater uptake and sustained engagement with the digital tool.

There are recommendations in this report:

• Raise awareness of the NHS App by promoting it through trusted, familiar channels, using age-appropriate messaging that highlights its personal and practical benefits.

• Deliver a more integrated, user-friendly, and personalised NHS App experience for all users.

• Provide tailored technical help for older people including jargon-free printed guides, real-time phone support, and wider, offline promotion of inperson assistance available at GP surgeries and in libraries.

• Improve GP practice staff competence and confidence in the ShCR by offering practical, role-specific, and mandatory training, and by addressing integration challenges.

• Build public awareness and trust in the ShCR through a targeted, multi-channel approach that clearly communicates its benefits, how data is used and kept safe, as well as how consent is managed.

There are no follow up actions in this report. The provider has responded.