The NHS App, Gently

1. What the NHS App is — and honestly is not. The NHS App is the NHS’s own free, official app, for anyone registered with a GP surgery in England.
2. Getting the app and signing up — without panic. On an Android phone or tablet, the safe place to get the NHS App is the Google Play store — the app shop already on your device.
3. Repeat prescriptions — the feature that wins people over. If you take regular medication, this is the reason to bother with the app at all.
4. Appointments and your record — with one human note. At many surgeries you can book or cancel GP appointments in the app — a blessing at eight in the morning when the phone line is engaged.
5. If your surgery uses something else. Here is something that catches people out: not every surgery runs everything through the NHS App.
6. NHS App safety — and the scams that borrow its name. Your medical record is precious, so the NHS App protects it with proper sign-in checks — and your side of the bargain is wonderfully simple: never share your NHS login password or security codes with anyone.
7. Helping a partner or relative. Many of us keep an eye on someone else’s health — a husband or wife, a parent, a neighbour.

1. The NHS App is the NHS’s free, official app — downloading and using it costs nothing.
2. Get it from the Google Play store on an Android phone or tablet — on an Apple phone or tablet, the same app is in Apple’s App Store.
3. Your NHS login is yours alone — never share the password or security codes with anyone, however nicely they ask.
4. What you can do in the app depends on your GP surgery — if a feature seems missing, ask reception. It is not you.
5. Repeat prescriptions: order in the app, then allow a few working days before collecting from your nominated pharmacy.
6. Test results appear when they are ready — if one worries you, ring the surgery. The app never replaces your GP.
7. Patient Access and SystmOnline are legitimate systems some surgeries use instead — the same good habits apply.
8. The NHS will never ask for bank or card details by text or email to ‘release’ a prescription, result or refund.
9. Suspicious text? Forward it free to 7726. Suspicious email? Send it to report@phishing.gov.uk. Given out card details? Dial 159 to reach most UK banks — and if money has been taken, tell Action Fraud too.
10. Stuck or unsure? 365 Techies: 01202 775566 — or join our in-person lessons at the Kinson Community Centre, Bournemouth.

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