Patients are now able to track their prescriptions thanks to a new feature in the NHS App.

Nearly 1,500 high street chemists, including every Boots in England, are now offering the service, which enables patients to check on their prescriptions through real-time “Amazon-style” updates.

It is estimated that 45 per cent of phone calls to community pharmacies are estimated to be from patients asking if their prescription is ready. It is hoped the new service will help free up time for pharmacists to provide advice to patients.

The app will tell patients if their prescriptions are ready to collect” or “dispatched by pharmacy” if they are being delivered.

The service is expected to be made available to nearly 5,000 more pharmacies over the next 12 months, 60 per cent of those in England.

Dr Vin Diwakar, clinical transformation director at NHS England, said: “We know that people want more control over how they manage their healthcare and the new prescription tracking feature in the NHS App offers exactly that.

“You will now get a near real-time update in the app that lets you know when your medicine is ready so you can avoid unnecessary trips or leaving it until the last minute to collect.

“The new Amazon-style feature will also help to tackle the administrative burden on pharmacists, so that they can spend more of their time providing health services and advice to patients rather than updates on the status of their prescriptions.”

Secretary of state for health and social care, Wes Streeting, said:”If patients can track the journey of their food shop, they should be able to do the same with their prescriptions.

“By harnessing the power and efficiency of modern tech, we’re saving patients time, driving productivity and freeing up hardworking pharmacists to do what they do best – helping patients, not providing status updates.

“This is just one example of our mission to shift the NHS from analogue to digital as we continue to push our health service into the modern age through our Plan for Change.”