NHS app will route patients to care using AI

NHS England will use AI in the NHS app to help determine the most appropriate service for patients in England. The triage tool will ask a series of questions and use the answers to direct people to a GP appointment, pharmacy, A&E, community service or self-care advice.

The update is expected to reach more than 200,000 patients in the next 12 months and become available to all app users by April 2028 as part of a major technology overhaul. In an initial trial at Wealden Ridge Medical Partnership in Sussex, the tool was linked to a 29% reduction in the number of people queuing on the phone for an appointment.

The programme is part of a £10bn investment allocated by the government in 2025 to upgrade NHS technology, digital and data systems. NHS England also plans an England-wide rollout of AI tools that record patient-staff conversations to produce real-time transcriptions and clinical summaries, beginning with hospital appointments not requiring an overnight stay at trusts in and around London.

Health bodies broadly welcomed the plans while calling for safeguards around safety, confidentiality and digital inclusion. The Royal College of Nursing said health professionals must make decisions at key points, while the King’s Fund said the NHS should ensure patients are not excluded as services become more reliant on technology.