NHS App Ambassador's July Newsletter

The group is a place for you to connect with other NHS App ambassadors and share how you have been promoting the NHS App in your area. You can also access the latest webinars and newsletters and find information on further support.

Please note that the channel is not monitored by the NHS App comms team and you should continue to follow the normal routes for technical assistance with the NHS App.  

We will continue to send newsletters with the latest NHS App updates and invite you to webinars through email, so you don’t need to worry about missing information if you don’t use the channel.

You will be invited to join the forum this week. If you have any issues or do not receive a request to join before the end of the week, please contact appambassadors@nhs.net.

We will be collecting further feedback on the channel in the future to ensure it remains as useful as possible to you.

Set up a test patient

Find out how your patients view the NHS App by setting up a test patient. You can use a test patient to check how your appointments appear to patients in the app.

More information can be found here: Set up a test patient - NHS Digital

You need access to a clinical system to be able to set up a test patient.

We have posters in the waiting room with QR codes that link to the NHS App for people to scan, as most people waiting are usually fiddling with their phones while they’re waiting for their appointment.

As a practice, we were heavily involved in the COVID-19 vaccinations, so we had a lot of posters around the site about booking COVID vaccinations on the app. Again, we used posters with visible QR codes for people to use. I am planning to do a big push to get our patients on the NHS App during our flu clinics later this year, as we have done pre COVID.

I am currently training staff to sign people up to the NHS App when they contact our dedicated prescriptions phoneline. Our reception staff have different technical skill levels when it comes to the NHS App at the moment, but with ongoing training we will soon have them on board!

How do you help those who might struggle more with technology to use the NHS App?

I do spend quite a bit of time explaining the NHS App to patients and helping them to set it up on various devices. I think people are more willing to try the app once they realise what they can do on it without having to call the surgery.

How do you make your colleagues aware of the NHS Apps features?

We keep colleagues updated by discussing the NHS App on training days and updating them through our communications channels.

We also have 1-2-1s to go through anything that colleagues may be unsure of. We make sure they are confident enough with the app to be able to talk about it with patients or just have a general chat about new features.

Do you have any other tips for ambassadors?

Generally, I would say don’t rule anyone out for being able to use the NHS App... I find a lot of our older patients really embrace technology and once they see how easy the NHS App is to use, then they are away!!