NHS App and Independent Feedback Report – March 2026

19 March 2026

Our NHS App and Independent Feedback report brings together insights from 1,717 people across 19 Local Healthwatch areas and highlights both the opportunities and risks within the NHS’s ongoing digital transformation, particularly around digital inclusion, confidence, accessibility, and the future of independent feedback.

The NHS App has become central to national policy ambitions for modernising health services, with expectations that it will become a primary route for accessing and managing people’s healthcare and giving feedback.

National evidence shows that digital exclusion remains widespread. Local Healthwatch undertook this survey to assess how well current digital pathways meet people’s needs and whether the public is ready for a system that increasingly prioritises online access.

Findings:

• Overall NHS App usage is highest among 25–64 year-olds but drops steeply among older adults: those most likely to rely on health services.
• For people who do not use the app, the primary reasons are behavioural preferences rather than technical barriers, preferring to speak to someone face to face or over phone.
• Among those who do use the app, engagement is mostly passive, rather than active management of their own healthcare.
• Many respondents stressed the need for a simpler design and better integration across NHS systems.
• Just over half of respondents (53%) said they would use the app to give feedback about their healthcare.
• Confidence in using the NHS App to get help is low overall but declines sharply with age.

Healthwatch also provided a list of recommendations for the NHS App design team, local stakeholders and providers of services, and national policy figures.

Healthwatch Wirral’s statutory independence allows it to act without fear or favour, challenge poor practice and expose system failings without being constrained by internal priorities. Independence protects honest and early warnings for issues both across the system and for individuals, and whilst digital channels can add convenience, independent channels add confidence.

To get help with using the NHS App, click here.

For more of Healthwatch Wirral’s reports, click here.

Find our full NHS App and Independent Feedback report below.