The NHS app will use artificial intelligence to determine which service is most suitable for patients in England, the health service has announced.
The new triage tool will ask patients a series of questions and use the answers to direct them to a doctor’s appointment, pharmacy, emergency department, community service or self-care advice.
NHS England said the update will reach more than 200,000 patients over the next 12 months and will be available to all app users by April 2028 as part of a “major overhaul” of the technology.
The rollout has been largely welcomed, but some health authorities have called on the NHS to prioritize patient safety, privacy and inclusion as it becomes increasingly reliant on AI.
An initial trial of the tool at Wilden Ridge Health Partnership in Sussex showed a 29% reduction in the number of people queuing by telephone for appointments.
Dr Raghu Rajan, who works at the clinic, said integrating the tool “means our patients can tell us what they need, when they need it, and get them to the right treatment the first time.
“It didn’t replace our judgment—it gave us back the time to use it.”
Sir Jim McKee, chief executive of NHS England, said the tool “will help give patients the best care the first time… so doctors can be confident that those who most need to see a GP can get one sooner.”
It forms part of a £10 billion investment committed by the government in 2025 to overhaul the NHS’s technology, digital and data systems.
Artificial intelligence tools that record conversations between patients and NHS staff to create transcripts and clinical reports in real time will also be rolled out across England.
It will begin with non-overnight hospital visits to four NHS sites in and around London – St George’s, Epsom and St Helier, Croydon, Kingston and Richmond.
Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust in Liverpool and Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust are also expanding their artificial intelligence note-taking programmes.
A study led by Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital and carried out across nine NHS sites in London found that NHS staff spent almost 25% more of their time interacting with patients when using record-keeping technology.
The Royal College of Nursing’s chief nursing officer, Professor Lynne Woolsey, said the rollout could mark “an important step in upgrading technology across the NHS” and “ease the administrative burden on nursing staff”.
But she also stressed that patient safety and privacy must come first. “The heart of any triage system is AI, ensuring that the healthcare professional is the one making the decisions at key points in the process.”
Pritesh Mistry, a research fellow at the King’s Fund think tank, said the announcement “could lead to dramatic improvements in the way the NHS uses modern technology to provide better care for patients”.
“It should be easier for people to get support when they need it and in the way that suits them best, whether digital or physical,” she added.
“And this means the NHS will need to pay close attention to ensuring people are not digitally isolated as clinical services become increasingly reliant on technology.”
Conservative shadow health secretary Stuart Andrew said: “Any innovation that improves patient care and helps the NHS run more efficiently is to be welcomed. But new technologies must be implemented under a fully funded plan that benefits taxpayers.”