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A new ‘Amazon-style’ function on the NHS app allowing patients to track their prescriptions has been rolled out to 1,500 pharmacies – including every Boots store in England.

The real-time prescription checking function will be rolled out to a further 5,000 pharmacies over the next 12 months, NHS England revealed in an announcement today (May 23).

The app will tell patients if their medicines are ‘ready to collect’ or, if they are being delivered by the pharmacy, whether they have been dispatched. 

The function is aimed at reducing the need for patients to phone up about their prescriptions, which accounts for 45 per cent of all calls to pharmacies says NHSE. 

NHSE is encouraging app users – there are 37.4 million registered users of which 11.4 million access it each month – to log on during the bank holiday weekend to order repeat prescriptions or access medical advice.

Dr Vin Diwakar, NHS England’s clinical transformation director, commented: “We know that people want more control over how they manage their healthcare and the new prescription tracking feature in the NHS app offers exactly that. 

“You will now get a near real-time update in the app that lets you know when your medicine is ready so you can avoid unnecessary trips or leaving it until the last minute to collect. 

“The new Amazon-style feature will also help to tackle the administrative burden on pharmacists so that they can spend more of their time providing health services and advice to patients, rather than updates on the status of their prescriptions.”

Health secretary Wes Streeting said: "If patients can track the journey of their food shop, they should be able to do the same with their prescriptions. 

“By harnessing the power and efficiency of modern tech, we’re saving patients time, driving productivity and freeing up hardworking pharmacists to do what they do best – helping patients, not providing status updates.  

“This is just one example of our mission to shift the NHS from analogue to digital as we continue to push our health service into the modern age through our Plan for Change.”

Boots UK pharmacy director Anne Higgins said the move would allow pharmacy teams to “spend more time with patients and deliver vita services like Pharmacy First”.

Last year, CVD health checks were integrated into the app. Judging by the latest figures, the previous government's aim to have three-quarters of people in England signed up has not yet been achieved.