The upgrade will prevent at least 50 million costly letters from going through the postal system.
The DHSC says 270 million messages are expected to be sent through the NHS App this year, an increase of 70 million on last financial year, saving an estimated £200m across the system over the next three years.
In 2023/24, there were around 8 million missed appointments in elective care, and around 30% of people missed a screening appointment. Push notifications will remind patients about upcoming appointments and relay important messages.
Currently, almost 20 million are opted in to receive healthcare messages via the NHS App and could soon benefit from this latest expansion. The NHS is appealing to patients to download the NHS App and turn on notifications to ensure they receive important updates.
Health and social care secretary, Wes Streeting, said: ‘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.'
As part of this digital-first transformation, over the next three years, patients in England will receive all appropriate NHS messages through the app first. Where app messaging is not available, communications will be sent via SMS and then by letter as a last resort.
Accessible communications will continue to be supported for those with specific requirements.
Dr Vin Diwakar, clinical transformation director at NHS England, said: ‘The NHS App is already empowering patients by giving them more information and now by increasingly becoming a world-class way of communicating – which will save millions of pounds and free up resources for patient care. I'd encourage anyone who hasn't got the app on their smartphone to download it now.'
This latest development comes in addition to work currently underway to improve user experience in the app.
