NHS Digital has revealed that in the past year there was an estimated 1.2billion visits to the NHS website – an average of 23 million visits each week or 2,300 views per minute.
Between October 2021 to September 2022, the most popular page for visitors was the book a coronavirus vaccination page which registered 131 million visits alone. With 22 million visits the BMI healthy weight calculator was the most viewed non-Covid page.
The website also runs a free syndication programme, allowing content from the NHS website to be accessed directly through other external websites, apps and internet-connected devices. This ensures that information is always up-to-date and remains current even when changes are made.
Organisations – including local authorities, charities, and businesses – can syndicate single articles or whole sections using APIs and widgets.
The website has over 4,000 pages of information available. This includes information about the NHS App (17m annual views) – which itself reached 30 million signups in its four years since launch -, how to find your NHS number (10.6m annual views) and applying for a free UK global health insurance card (9.2m annual views).
The website also includes detailed information about 990 different medical conditions. The most viewed pages for the past year, excluding covid, were high blood pressure (3.8m), chickenpox (3.8m) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (3.3m).
Robert Cleary, NHS Digital’s content director for the website, said: “The NHS website is the UK’s biggest health website, with an average of 23 million visits each week during the past 12 months.
“Millions of people have used the website for the latest Covid information or to book a vaccination, as well as for advice on topics ranging from high blood pressure to chest infections.
“We also make information from the NHS website available to hundreds of other websites and apps as well as on smart speakers, making it as easy as possible for people to access the latest medical advice.”