New online NHS hospital service by 2027, PM to promise

An NHS online hospital service will be launched in England within two years to help cut waiting times, the prime minister is set to announce.

Sir Keir Starmer will tell the Labour Party annual conference a “new world is coming” as he sets out plans for the digital service.

NHS Online will have its own dedicated doctors who will take charge of patients who choose to use the service.

The idea is that assessments, check-ups with consultants and follow-up appointments will all be done online.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting told BBC Breakfast he was “really excited” about a new virtual hospital, which has already “been proven to work” in some hospitals – including University Hospital Southampton and Moorfields.

“It’s basically about modernising the NHS, helping it to move with the times,” he said.

People will also be able to use the app to book a scan, test or procedure at a local community diagnostic centre, if they need one.

The service will be phased in from 2027, with the focus on areas where there are significant numbers of patients who may never need inpatient treatment.

NHS sources said this could include ophthalmology, gynaecology and digestive conditions.

For each area there will be some patients who require monitoring and support managing their health condition and therefore more suitable to the online service.

But identifying which are those patients will be a challenge.

NHS England said only those areas where an online service is considered safe will be included in the new offer.

The online hospital will be accessible through the NHS app and ministers hope it will deliver up to 8.5 million appointments and assessments in its first three years – four times more than an average NHS trust.

The health secretary also sought to reassure some patients who might feel anxious about seeing essential services go online, telling BBC Breakfast it would instead free up capacity for people who wanted to be seen face-to-face.

“That’s not just better for them in terms of it being more quick, more easy, more convenient,” Mr Streeting said, but it “also alleviates pressure”.

Sir Keir will say “the responsibility of this party is not just to celebrate the NHS, it’s to make it better”.

NHS England chief executive Sir Jim Mackey said the initiative would “deliver millions more appointments by the end of the decade, offering a real alternative for patients and more control over their own care”.

Digital innovation was one of the core themes of the 10-year NHS plan that was published over the summer.

The service will build on some initiatives that have already been piloted.

For example, University Hospital Southampton developed a virtual follow-up service for low-risk inflammatory bowel disease, enabling patients to access care and support remotely when they had flare-ups.

It meant the NHS trust could cut back on routine follow-up appointments. Three quarters of patients were managed virtually and the initiative was credited in reducing waiting times by 58%.

Meanwhile, Moorfields Eye Hospital in London has introduced a virtual system for managing non-emergency eye referrals. More than half ended up being treated in routine clinics without the need for specialist treatment at Moorfields.

Daniel Elkeles, chief executive of NHS Providers, said the online hospital service could be a “very significant” development.

“The way the NHS provides outpatients services hasn’t changed much for decades, but during Covid we learned a lot about opportunities for new approaches using digital technology.

“It’s sensible they are taking the time to plan this properly because there are a lot of factors to consider.

“These include the handling of patient data and the need to avoid “digital exclusion” of people who can’t access the service.”

Dr Becks Fisher, of the Nuffield Trust think tank, said it is an “interesting experiment”.

But she added: “At this stage detail is largely lacking. And there are some difficult questions looming about implementation.

“Where will the doctors and nurses for this service be taken from? And how will they pass patients who need care from digital to physical services?

“This service will only be safe and suitable for certain patients. How will we make sure it is kept to them?”

The announcement comes as the British Medical Association (BMA) has warned that a separate online booking system being launched across England could cause chaos and potentially lead to serious health problems being missed by GPs.

That system, which will instead allow patients wanting an on-the-day GP appointment, or a call from a clinician, to make a request online throughout the day, is being rolled out on Wednesday.

It is already available in many practices and is designed to reduce long waits on the phone during the so-called ‘8am scramble’.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, the health secretary stressed that the system was part of a wider effort to bring “general practice into the 21st Cenutry”.

“If we don’t change with the times the NHS will become less relevant as well as less accessible to the public,” Streeting added.