NHS App ‘not improving patients’ views on NHS admin’

The NHS App is failing to improve how patients perceive NHS administration despite rising adoption, according to research from The King’s Fund.

Polling, conducted by Ipsos in December 2025, found that 66% of patients and carers reported experiencing at least one administrative problem in the past year, including delays in receiving test results, poor communication about waiting times, and appointment errors.

The report, ‘Still lost in the system: the urgent need for better NHS admin’, published on 16 April 2026, shows no statistical significant difference between the views of NHS App users and non-users about how good the NHS is at communicating with patients on things such as appointment booking and receiving tests results.

This contrasts to 2024 polling which found that people who had used the app were more likely to say that the NHS was good at key aspects of admin.

Lillie Wenzel, fellow at The King’s Fund and an author of the analysis, told Digital Health News: “The NHS App has the potential to play a crucial role in improving patient experience by fixing long‑standing problems with NHS administration, especially as it is positioned to become the ‘front door’ to the NHS under the 10 year health plan.

“But our latest polling shows NHS App users did not hold very different views to non-App users over how well the NHS communicates information about appointments and test results.

“That’s a clear signal that more needs to be done to ensure the app is tackling the problems patients are facing. It also underlines the importance of developing this work with patients, so the app reflects the needs and preferences of different groups.”

NHS App users were also more likely to say that the NHS was poor at ensuring there is someone for patients to contact about their care (38% compared with 34% overall); and that the NHS was poor at keeping people informed about what is happening with their care (42% compared with 38% overall).

When it came to experience with specific admin issues, no clear pattern emerged between those using the NHS App and those who hadn’t used the app.

An NHS spokesperson told Digital Health News: “While the hard work of staff has driven real progress in waiting times and public satisfaction over the past year, these findings are a timely reminder of how much more there is to do to better join-up NHS care and ensure we get our services back to the level patients deserve.

“For too long, local NHS teams’ communications have been hamstrung by outdated systems – and that’s why we are investing to revamp our technology and join-up data, while expanding and improving the NHS App, to fully shift the service from analogue to digital and build an NHS fit for the future.”

The King’s Fund has set out 10 actions the government and NHS leaders should take on NHS admin, including making it easier for people to access their own health records and data by making access the default through the app.