Millions of patients in England will be able to use the NHS app to track if prescriptions are ready to collect or have been dispatched for delivery as part of a new feature.
It comes as officials say that about 45% of phone calls to pharmacies are from people chasing prescriptions.
The new feature on the NHS app will aim to “tackle the administrative burden” on pharmacies by slashing unnecessary phone calls and visits, allowing staff to spend more time assisting patients.
The new prescription tracking service has been hailed as “a game-changer” by health officials.
NHS app welcomes new ‘Amazon-style’ prescription service
Patients in England will now be able to get tracking updates on their prescriptions using the NHS app.
They can use the NHS app to track if their medicines are ready to collect or have been dispatched for delivery.
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.”
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Responding to the NHS announcement, Olivier Picard, chairman of the National Pharmacy Association, said prescription tracking “is a game-changer”.
He added: "Anything that allows pharmacies to focus on delivering first-class patient care, rather than spending time on phone calls to provide prescription status updates, is welcome news."
Health service data suggests the NHS app has 37.4 million registered users, with an average of 11.4 million people using it to manage their healthcare every month.
The app also allows patients to use a barcode to collect their prescription, while the number of repeat prescriptions ordered through the app increased by 40% to 5.5 million between April 2024 and April 2025.
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Almost 1,500 high street pharmacies, including Boots, are taking part in the new tracking feature, which is expected
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The service is also expected to expand to almost 5000 pharmacies over the next 12 months.
Boots pharmacy director Anne Higgins said: “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.”
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