Digital care coordinators – boosting access to the NHS App  

“I’m really amazed to see how many people are using the NHS App every day,” says Tanuja Kumari, one of the four NHS digital care coordinators working across south west London. “To anyone who hasn’t done so, I’d say just install NHS App and give it a go.”  

The app is now so popular that it is used by someone in south west London every single minute. Users of the NHS App are making the most of the features it offers – including requesting repeat prescriptions and viewing medical records and test results. But not everyone feels confident enough around technology to install the app and reap these benefits.   

That’s where south west London’s digital care coordinators come in. The experts when it comes to getting the most from the app, you’ll find them in GP practices and community spaces helping anyone who is hesitant, struggling or just not sure where to start.   

Tanuja, who works in Merton and Sutton, and Philippa Leary, digital care coordinator working in Kingston and Richmond, talk about how their very human role is helping drive a tech revolution in patient access.  

Meet the digital care coordinators

What does a digital care coordinator do?  

Tanuja: Our main role is to bridge the gap between patients and GP practices – to make patients aware of the NHS App and how to install it, set up an NHS account, and navigate its features step-by-step.   

People contact me if they are having issues. I try to help over the phone. If needed, I meet them in person to try to fix the issue. If I still can’t resolve it, I contact the practice manager or the NHS App technical support team. I run drop-in sessions in libraries, GP practices, community centres, and do community events. We strive to reach everyone in the community.  

Philippa: In addition to offering face to face support, we can fix the issue over the phone. If a patient feels they need more than a call, they can join the group training sessions I set up at their surgery. I call them techie tea parties.   

How did you get here?   

Tanuja:  I have a master’s degree in computer applications and previously worked in the private sector. However, I have a passion for helping people. I have been volunteering for the past 13 years, so this role is the perfect opportunity to combine my love of community service with my professional work.  

Philippa: I have performing arts degree – great fun, but it didn’t qualify me for anything other than working in that area of the arts. So, when I came back into the workforce after raising my kids, I retrained.  I learned how to build websites and publish news bulletins online for local charities. On a personal level, my dad was a GP, so it is nice that I am dealing with surgeries.   

What is the impact of your work?   

Tanuja:  Supporting the NHS App at an individual level not only impacts on a patient’s personal life but also benefits the practice. I have helped many patients who had been struggling to set up the NHS App for the last 2 to 3 years. It took me just 10 to 15 minutes to set it up, and the patients were so happy and relieved. Now, they can book appointments and order prescriptions, which eases the workload of practice staff.  

Philippa: Kingston and Richmond are two of the most IT literate boroughs in the UK, so it’s not that we have a massive problem with digital uptake. It’s the older residents, in both boroughs, who often feel sidelined by technology. However, since the NHS App is about accessing personal health information, there is a greater willingness to learn how to use it from older patients.    

Give us an example?  

Tanuja: One patient called me late in the afternoon, panicking because he had surgery the next day and urgently needed to access a few reports. He was struggling to sign in to his NHS account, and his GP practice was unable to help him. It took me over an hour to figure out the problem, but I did. It was one less thing for him to worry about.  

Philippa: Getting proxy access has completely changed things for some people. A family I worked with in Kingston had two older parents with dementia. Managing their healthcare was exceedingly difficult until we discussed proxy access and that was it – bookings, medication, everything could be managed from the app.