During the last 12 months, 22.5m messages were sent through the app, which would have previously been sent by text or letter.

Health minister, Andrew Stephenson said: ‘More than 34 million of us are now using the NHS App, which allows people in England to access health services like ordering repeat prescriptions and booking appointments quickly and easily online, while saving the NHS millions of pounds and freeing up time. 

‘As we announced in the Budget, we are investing £3.4 billion in upgrading and enhancing technology in the NHS as part of our plan to make our healthcare system faster, simpler, and fairer, so that doctors and nurses can spend more time with patients and less time on admin.'

The NHS App now has more than 34 million registered users, which is around three quarters of the adult population in England. 

Dependant on their GP surgery or healthcare provider, app users can view messages from their NHS healthcare services (through the NHS App Messaging service); view responses from their GP practice or follow up on things like test results (sometimes called an online consultation); and view messages to their healthcare provider (such as specialist doctors at a hospital).

Other features include viewing GP health records, ordering repeat prescriptions, viewing or managing hospital appointments, nominating a preferred pharmacy, finding local NHS services and getting health advice via 111 online.