IBM awarded £160m to transform NHS App into ‘health companion’

NHS England has awarded IBM a £160.1 million contract to support the development of the NHS App, as it looks to transform the platform into a personalised “health companion”.

In the contract notice, published on 2 April, NHSE says: “IBM has been formally appointed as a strategic delivery partner as we continue to develop secure, reliable and user-centred pathways and services at scale.”

The two-year contract begins on 1 May 2026 and runs until 31 March 2028  “following the completion of a competitive procurement process and due governance”.

 “Ongoing improvements to features, functionality and user experience is evolving the app into a go-to health companion.

“Providing easy access to health records and information alongside timely reminders and results; streamlined journeys and intelligent navigation for unplanned care through AI triage; and the ability to access hospital quality care at home,” the contract notice adds.

Speaking at the Digital Health Rewired conference in March, Rachel Hope, director of digital prevention services at NHSE, explained how the app will shift to becoming a personalised health companion over the next few years.

She said: “You’ve heard us talk for many years about the NHS App being the front door to the NHS — a service people can interact with, a very valuable service, but not the only one.

“But what we’re doing through the work at the moment over the next three years is making the NHS App a companion, a place where people can input data, have information fed back to them, navigate to the next service, but also build an understanding of their health risks.”

Hope has also previously said the NHS App is expected to become the central national channel for delivering preventative healthcare, using its scale and reach to engage citizens directly with preventative interventions such as vaccinations, screening and digital health checks.

Moving from ‘treatment to prevention’ is one of the three major shifts in the government’s NHS 10 year health plan, with an ambition to halve the gap in healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest regions, while increasing it for everyone, and raising the healthiest generation of children ever.

NHS England initially awarded IBM a contract worth £52.4m in 2022 for the development and maintenance of NHS App features. This was increased by £26.2m in February 2025, taking the total value to £78.6m.

The original deal had a term of 48 months, with an option to extend by a further 12 months. However, the uplift did not include an extension and applied only to the core contract, which is due to expire in June 2026.

Rahul Kalia, managing partner at IBM Consulting UK & Ireland, said: “Digitising the NHS is a long‑term commitment for creating a more accessible, efficient and sustainable health service.

“IBM is proud to be supporting the NHS in improving patient experience at scale by transforming the NHS App to deliver personalised, proactive care for health service users.”

Digital Health News contacted NHS England for comment.