Our National Heath Service (NHS), love it hate it, it’s still the envy of the world. As we move ever closer to the digital edge, it appears that the NHS is following too (abeit slowly).
The NHS today outlined a number of new digital improvements that include making use of apps and opening up access to millions of healthcare records. Parents, for example, will be offered a new digital “red book” that lets them manage their child’s early health updates from a smartphone or tablet. Any parent will know of the red book (how many times it has been lost or forgotten).
All patients will get online access to their GP records next March, followed by their full care records in 2017. The NHS is going one step further, however, by giving you the ability to add your own comments and data from wearables the year after. You won’t be able to edit any official entries, but it should give doctors a better sense of your health and personalise treatments.
Our phones and wearable devices are already monitoring our activities – walking, running, riding plus heartbeat and other sensors. You can even monitor what you’ve eaten, and this history can be presented to your doctor so they can view any patterns and lifestyle.
The National Heath Service already provide a wide range of smartphone apps which can viewed here.
Security is going to be a primary concern of course, especially if your phone is lost, stolen or your mates pick it up.