NHSX has said it is fast tracking its assessments of any apps developed to deal with the Covid-19 outbreak.
It said that is providing additional support for developers working on related apps that can help the public and health and social care workers and provide data to the HNS, and which focus on clinical safety, data protection and security. It has paused assessments for any that are not directly related to the pandemic.
The policy unit for digital technology in the Department of Health and Social Care runs an assessment process through its Digital Assessment Portal on the safety and security of apps and to check that they do what they claim.
“When we talk to digital health innovators, we say that the key to getting through the assessment quickly is answering the questions as accurately as possible and providing the evidence to support this,” it said.
“Our objective is working collaboratively so, if a company hasn’t documented something whilst scaling at pace, we can look at what they have got and continue with other areas of the assessment.”
It added that it plans to resume testing of other apps as soon as it is able.
Image from NHS Digital