St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust has launched a Welcome to St George’s Hospital mobile phone app.
The app is intended to deliver information to patients, friends, families and carers about the trust in Tooting, south west London, which is one of the country’s largest healthcare providers.
The app includes information for patients, outpatients and visitors, including contact details for wards and outpatient clinics, a news feed from the trust’s website, and feedback mechanisms.
It also comes with a scaleable map of the hospital, showing the location of its wards.
The app has been developed in-house by the trust’s communications team, working with St George’s Healthcare patient groups.
The idea was developed after patients told the trust that they would like more information on phones, so they always have the information they need with them.
The trust has already taken other steps to make more use of web and mobile technology.
For example, it publishes its annual reports and quality accounts as interactive online documents, with versions optimised for mobile phones, tablet devices and eBook readers, as well as desktop browsers.
Peter Jenkinson, director of corporate affairs, said: "There is a lot of information for patients and their families to absorb and this app will put everything they need at their fingertips.
"There has been a lot of input from patients in developing and testing the app, and their feedback will continue to influence it as we update it over the coming years.”