Patients will be able to receive test results, screening invitations, and appointment reminders through the NHS App, which will save at least 50 million letters postal letters and £200 million over the next three years. 20 million people have opted to receive notifications via the NHS App and could soon benefit from this expansion.

In 2023-24, there were around eight million missed appointments in elective care, and around thirty per cent of people missed a screening appointment. Notifications delivered through the NHS App, such as appointment reminders, would allow for faster communication and reduce the risk of these missed appointments.

This has been enabled by £50 million investment, and is expected to support 270 million messages being sent through the NHS App this year, an increase of 70 million over the last three years.

This is part of a nationwide digital revolution, where patients will receive all appropriate NHS communication through the App, before SMS communications and then by letter as a last resort. Those without smartphones will benefit from landline phone lines being freed up, and accessible communication will continue for those without phone access, with specific requirements, and elderly patients.

Health and social care secretary, Wes Streeting, said: “People are living increasingly busy lives and want to access information about their health at the touch of a button, rather than having to wait weeks for letters that often arrive too late. This government is bringing our analogue health service into the digital age, so that being a patient in the NHS is as convenient as online banking or ordering a takeaway.

“The NHS still spends hundreds of millions of pounds on stamps, printing, and envelopes. By modernising the health service, we can free up huge amounts of funding to reinvest in the frontline.

“Through the investment and reform in our Plan for Change, we will make the NHS App the front door to the health service and put power in the hands of patients.”