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Just a tiny fraction of Scotland’s 4.5million adults are using the SNP’s ‘useless and embarrassing’ £17million NHS app, the Mail on Sunday can reveal.
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Mail → see → Sunday
Only 22,000 Scots - 0.5 per cent of the adult population - have bothered to download the app which ministers promised would give patients ‘safe, simple and secure direct access to NHS services.’
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ministers → bother → services
But the App and online platform has been plagued with technical problems since it was launched in June.
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it → plague → June
And last night the MyCare.Scot website and app was branded an ’embarrassment to the nation’ with politicians calling for it to be replaced by the successful English NHS app - which is used by nearly 90 per cent of the adult population south of the border.
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which → brand → border
Information obtained by the Mail on Sunday shows that just 22,000 people had downloaded the app since it launched in June.
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it → obtain → June
The figures equate to around 0.5 per cent of the adult population in Scotland – far below the government’s goal of 20 per cent.
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figures → equate → cent
The news comes after a report co-written by former SNP Health Secretary Alex Neil earlier this month stated Scotland should use the English NHS app rather than ‘trying to reinvent the wheel’ by creating our own version.
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Scotland → come → version
It went as far as to state: ‘Not everything needs a Saltire added to it.’
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Saltire → go → it
Just 22,000 adults in Scotland had downloaded the new health app
Scottish Conservative health and care spokesman Miles Briggs MSP said: ‘This is yet another example of the SNP making life harder and more expensive than it needs to be.
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it → download → app
‘Rather than use an established NHS England model, ministers chose to go it alone and are now asking patients to wait years for basic features like managing appointments and accessing hospital letters.
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ministers → use → letters
‘Patients need an NHS app that makes their lives easier, not an expensive SNP gimmick that cannot deliver the basics.
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that → need → basics
‘This money and time would have been far better spent improving frontline care, cutting waiting times and supporting NHS staff.
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money → spend → staff
‘The SNP need to stop reinventing the wheel and finally deliver technology that works for patients.’
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that → need → patients
The technology is part of the government’s digital front door (DFD) strategy, which is meant to make it easier for patients to manage their health records, medicines and appointments online.
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patients → mean → records
So far the app shows patients’ Community Health Index Number (CHI), whether they have had a flu or covid vaccine, their allergies and address.
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they → show → vaccine
The government said in future the service ‘will include other functions such as social work and social care and will be the most comprehensive health and care app in the UK when fully delivered.’
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service → say → UK
Government data shows that between the technology being rolled out nationally on April 15, and late August just 24,443 people had registered to use it.
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people → show → it
Separately 22,206 people had downloaded the app since it was released on June 17.
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it → download → June
Some users have reported issues accessing the app which requires a separate ‘ScotAccount’ registration first.
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which → report → registration
The ScotAccount is a government run account which is supposed to allow users to sign in to a variety of services and verifies your identity.
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users → run → identity
Users of the MyCare app have said they can’t log in, can’t verify their identity and are being asked to contact the government’s helpline to resolve the issues.
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they → say → issues
Government officials said they didn’t know how many people contacted its helpline for login or identity verification problems.
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people → say → problems
Reviews of the app on the Apple and Android stores are scathing, with one user writing: ‘This is possibly one of the most useless apps I’ve ever encountered.
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I → write → apps
I mean this in a literal way....
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I → mean → way
it has no use…
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it → have → use
You can view your medication, but you can’t order any.
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you → view → any
And if you need to know your CHI number, this app has been developed at great expense as an alternative to a pen and a piece of paper!’
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app → need → paper
Another simply said: ‘An embarrassment to the whole nation’ while a third added: ‘Shows absolutely nothing.
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third → say → nothing
I’m on medication – it doesn’t show.
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it → ’m → medication
I’ve had appointments – it doesn’t show.
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it → have → appointments
I don’t get what the point of this app is.’
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point → get → app
The outline business case (OBC) obtained by the MoS shows officials estimated 20 per cent of people would be using the technology, increasing as more features are added.
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features → obtain → technology
Scottish Labour health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said: ‘The SNP’s incompetence has left Scotland trailing behind other parts of the UK when it comes to successfully implementing an NHS app.
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it → say → app
The App and online platform have been plagued with technical problems
‘
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App → plague → problems
They have wasted years that could have been spent on ensuring a smooth rollout of a functional app that would allow patients to do basic things like book appointments and order prescriptions.
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patients → waste → prescriptions
Instead, they fretted over the “political optics” of adopting the same technology as the NHS England app.’
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they → fret → app
Ministers previously came under fire for refusing to adopt the same model used for the English NHS app, insisting that Scotland develop its own.
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Scotland → come → own
An internal government report revealed that while the technology in England had already been ‘proven at scale’, the ‘political optics of adopting an English solution’ were part of the reason for rejecting it.
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optics → reveal → it
The English NHS app was launched in 2018 and has introduced more features over the years, including providing ‘Amazon-style’ prescription tracking to allow patients to order repeat medicines see when they are ready to be collected.
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they → launch → medicines
As of June this year, almost 42 million users were registered for the NHS app - 89 per cent of the adult population.
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users → register → population
…and 4 more, not listed.
The Aporia
