A time- and cost-saving NHS-assured GP online services app can reduce patient-GP appointments by 20 per cent a month, potentially slashing assessment and treatment delays.
Nearly 750,000 people have downloaded the free Evergreen Life health and wellness app, of which nearly 500,000 have connected to their GPs, meaning they can share health records with whoever they want, book GP appointments, monitor their wellbeing, and be more easily assessed and treated for current and developing health conditions.
Former NHS pharmacist - now social entrepreneur - Stephen Critchlow created the NHS-assured app for patient online services.
It is the only wellbeing app to incorporate lifestyle, fitness, mental health and DNA data collection and storage.
The app has all the basic features of an NHS App for GP online patient access: it books appointments, orders and delivers repeat prescriptions, sends messages to patients' GPs, but it also downloads medical records and test results for patients to own and share as they need.
But the Evergreen Life app also allows users to take a DNA test designed to assess and advise on the lifestyle and diet that suits their genetic makeup. They can also enter in the app's personal health record section any medical information from healthcare providers from whom they are receiving treatment, including images of letters, and store them in their own document management system.
It compares the medication they're taking with that which their GP has prescribed, and lets them record and remind themselves of all their medication, including what they buy over the counter.
It has now been enhanced to score and monitor wellness through lifestyle assessment through interactive questions about health, diet and lifestyle.
Stephen said:
The app essentially helps people take control of their destiny by amassing and assembling vital healthcare and lifestyle information - it's the only wellness app connected to the NHS system, with 99.5% of GP practices in England in turn having at least one patient connected to their GP. The chase to prevent rather than cure is on.
Our expert panel has researched the best references to create a score that helps users understand if they are doing everything we currently know about to stay well. The next stage is to create a community of users who will help amass data to let each other know which initiatives work best for people like them. The DNA test allows people to personalize their approach to staying well, and with this data - and feedback from similar-profile people - we can further personalize the best approach.
It's no secret that the NHS - whether at Acute Trust or local GP level - is struggling to cope with the sheer weight of demand. This is a frustration I have long endured, which frustrates huge swathes of healthcare professionals, and which severely compromises the NHS' ability to deliver to the fullness of its potential.
The app, available via Evergreen Life as well as directly from, NHS Online, stores medical, DNA and wellness data owned by the patient, and which can be shared with GPs, NHS Trusts and other healthcare organisations to ensure accurate understandings of patients' health and wellbeing status, and helps avoid delays in assessment and treatment.
Booking online can take minutes, whilst waiting for the receptionist to answer can waste days and is much less accessible. What could take days for a hospital or doctor to assemble patient data from several treatment centers or departments - with a risk of information being missed - takes seconds because it is all held in one location: on the app.
The UK is generally stuck in a rut of chasing and deploying cures when it could be focussing on keeping people well, and avoiding sickness - the app saves time and money, and enhances the efficiency of the patient-NHS relationship."
Health Care Apps and the Empowered Patient