The NHS has announced it is rolling out a feature that will affect millions of patients in England
The NHS has announced an ‘Amazon-style’ change to pharmacies affecting millions(Image: PA)
Millions of people in England will now be able to track their prescriptions on the NHS app with ‘Amazon-style’ updates.
NHS England announced on Friday (May 23) that prescription tracking will help to reduce unnecessary calls and visits to pharmacies.
Health officials say the rollout will affect nearly 1,500 high street chemists, including every Boots in England.
Dr Vin Diwakar, Clinical Transformation Director at NHS England, said: “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.”
The NHS app is regularly used by more than 11 million Brits(Image: NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Almost half (45 per cent) of phone calls to pharmacies are from patients asking if their prescription is ready, the NHS said.
Prescription updates will allow patients to see if their medicines are ‘ready to collect’ or ‘dispatched by pharmacy’ on the NHS app.
The NHS has said service is expected to be made available to nearly 5,000 more pharmacies within the next year – covering 60 per cent of those in England.
It is the latest move as part of the government’s plans to cut waiting lists and improve care through the Plan for Change.
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, 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.”
The change will affect nearly 1,500 chemists in England(Image: PA)
The NHS app has 37.4 million registered users, with around 11.4 million people logging in each month, official data shows.
The number of repeat prescriptions ordered through the app increased by 40 per cent from 3.9 million in April 2024 to 5.5 million in April 2025, the NHS said.
Officials say the rollout is one of several planned improvements to the NHS app, including offering patients more appointment options and greater choice.
Anne Higgins, Pharmacy Director at Boots, added: “We know our patients are looking for more convenient ways to manage their repeat prescriptions, which is why we’re pleased to partner with NHS England to launch these new updates on the NHS App and through Boots Online Prescriptions.
“For the first time, when a patient orders their prescription via the NHS App and they’ve nominated a Boots pharmacy to dispense it, they can view its journey at every key step of the process.
“This will remove the need for patients to call our pharmacy team for updates on their prescription so they can spend more time with patients and deliver vital services like NHS Pharmacy First.”