NHS App should be new “front door” to NHS in England, says health secretary

Technology and in particular the NHS App should become the new “front door” to the NHS in England rather than primary care, the government has said, as part of wide ranging reforms to the health service.

But NHS leaders reacted with scepticism to the idea, warning that major improvements to the app were needed before it could fill such a crucial role.

Sajid Javid, health and social care secretary, outlined the plans in a speech on 8 March at the Royal College of Physicians headquarters,1 in which he argued that covid-19 had intensified the need to reform the NHS.

He said that he wanted patients to have more control …