NHS England is planning to roll out a ‘ping and book’ service to remind women through their phones that they are due or overdue an appointment for cancer screening.
It is also developing a new function on the NHS App for the booking of screening appointments.
The ping and book service is due to begin next month.
Eligible women will first receive a notification through the NHS App to remind them to book an appointment, followed by an email or text message if they don’t respond, followed by a letter through the post if neither of the first two reminders have received responses.
NHS England plans to extend the service to cervical screening in the spring or 2025; and from early 2026, to enable women to book breast screening appointments through the app.
NHS cancer screening programmes currently send over 25 million invitations, reminders and results letters to patients by post, costing £14.7 million every year.
Massive strides
Amanda Pritchard, NHS chief executive, said: “We’re making massive strides with the NHS App, with patients getting more information, convenience and control over their own care, while helping us to work more productively too.
“We are really excited by the potential of technology to revolutionise access to cancer screening for women and help ensure everyone eligible can make the most of these life-saving services at the touch of a button.
“Next month we’re starting the rollout of a new ping and book approach for breast and cervical checks through the NHS App, which will replace costs of letters and text messages with pop-ups on your phone and help make it as convenient as possible to book appointments.”
