Overview

• NHS England confirmed first patients will use NHS Online from 2027, with capacity equivalent to up to 8.5 million appointments and assessments in its first three years.
• Through the NHS App, patients referred by GPs will access specialist video consultations, manage prescriptions, and book scans or tests at local hospitals and community diagnostic centres.
• The rollout will begin with a small set of planned treatments facing the longest waits, expanding only where remote care is shown to be clinically safe.
• The programme will operate as an NHS-run organisation staffed by NHS personnel, with delivery developed in partnership with clinical staff and their unions.
• Keir Starmer unveiled the plan at Labour conference, as NHS leaders welcomed added capacity and patient groups pressed for strong data safeguards and measures to prevent digital exclusion.