We all know how hard it can be to secure a GP appointment, with waiting lists for referrals often meaning weeks before a follow up at the hospital. Pressure on primary care is also rising, with more than 6.5 million online consultation requests submitted to GPs in a single month during autumn 2025, highlighting the scale of demand across the system.
Against this backdrop of sustained pressure on services, recent data highlights the scale of missed care across the NHS. Nearly 1 in 4 people have missed an NHS appointment because they forgot or arrived too late, according to a 2025 survey for NHS England.
The survey, based on responses from around 2,000 adults in England aged 16 and over, found that 12% had forgotten an appointment in the past, while 11% said they had arrived too late.
This is reflected in wider NHS figures, which show that 16 million GP appointments were missed last year — around 4.3% of all appointments, or roughly one in every 23 bookings. The NHS estimates this costs up to £290 million annually, equivalent to an entire day of missed appointments at every GP practice each month.
In response, the NHS has launched a new campaign, ‘Tap the NHS App’, encouraging patients to enable push notifications so they receive reminders about upcoming appointments and can cancel or rearrange them if needed.
Launched by NHS England on March 2, the campaign is being promoted through pharmacy bags, radio, social media and high street advertising. Importantly, the App also allows the users to cancel or rearrange appointment instantly, potentially freeing up millions of appointments that can then be used by other patients.A sister campaign, “Tap it, type it and we’ll take care of it,” was also launched in early 2026 to encourage patients to use online forms rather than calling at 8 am. An NHS spokesperson said, “One of the easiest ways you can reduce the risk of missing an appointment is by tapping the NHS App to turn on notifications…”
Dr Amanda Doyle, National Director for Primary Care at NHS England, said: “People will often have genuine reasons… but it’s really important that they let us know if possible so we can offer the appointment to someone else.”
Hospital appointments
While GP services are heavily affected, hospital care is facing similar challenges, with NHS outpatient data showing that roughly 1 in 10 hospital appointments are missed. This equates to an estimated 10–14 million “Did Not Attend” (DNA) appointments each year across England, based on around 146 million annual outpatient appointments.
NHS figures indicate DNA rates typically range between 7–10%, depending on the type of clinic and hospital trust. These missed slots place significant pressure on already stretched services, delaying treatment, slowing diagnosis, and increasing waiting times for other patients.
Taken together, these figures highlight a wider system-wide issue.In total, GP practices delivered approximately 376 million appointments in 2025, an increase of 8.4 million compared to the previous year, highlighting both rising demand and the scale of missed capacity. The app’s popularity is soaring to meet this demand, recording a record 62.3 million logins in November 2025 alone.Interestingly, patterns of missed appointments also vary by age younger adults (18-35) are more likely to miss appointments often accounting for over 10% of DNAs, given the younger generation is often more familiar with using their mobile phones and Apps. This campaign will hopefully help make them more aware and less likely to miss appointments. Older adults (65+) typically account for less than 5% of DNAs.
GPs provided over 8 million extra appointments for their patients in 2025, if the number of missed appointments can be reduced this will further increase the number of appointments available to patients in 2026.
Other things you can do on the App
Beyond appointment management, the NHS App has also become a key tool for everyday healthcare needs, with over 67 million repeat prescriptionsprocessed through the app in the last 12 months, reflecting a massive shift in how patients manage medication. The app also offers “Amazon-style” tracking for prescriptions, allowing patients to monitor their status in real time.You can request repeat prescriptions through the app, monitor their progress and know when they are ready to collect at your designated pharmacy.
You can also review your medical records, access a range of other NHS services such as reviewing referrals, checking symptoms and accessing NHS 111. New for 2026, the app now features interactive trends and graphs for test results, such as HbA1c and cholesterol levels, and allows patients to see their estimated waiting times for hospital treatment directly. NHS data also shows that digital tools such as app notifications have already helped prevent around 1.5 million missed hospital appointments, saving an estimated 5.7 million staff hours.
Family Feature to help carers support elderly and vulnerable patients
NHS Digital has also warned that “many of the people who could most benefit from digital services are the least likely to be online,” highlighting the risk of exclusion for older and more vulnerable patients.
Against this backdrop, one of the most significant additions in recent months has been a new “Family Feature” launched in September, allowing parents and carers to manage appointments and medical records on behalf of relatives.
Importantly, this feature allows users to apply for access entirely through the app without visiting a GP practice, helping to remove a key administrative barrier. It is designed as a vital bridge for elderly or less tech-savvy patients, enabling family members to act as “digital advocates” where needed.
Dr Vin Diwakar, Clinical Transformation Director at NHS England, noted, “The family access feature in the NHS App makes it much easier for parents and carers to support the health of their loved ones – and it’s as simple as switching Netflix profiles.”
As the system is rolled out, frontline experience suggests it is already making a tangible difference. Will Palmer, a Digital Community Connector at a GP practice, observed, “Patients are so relieved that they can easily get set up to order repeat prescriptions or see test results for their loved ones… it’s a gamechanger.”
This added support is intended to ensure that more vulnerable patients do not miss appointments or prescriptions due to technical barriers.
The NHS App has over 40 million registered users, who are able to view their GP health records and manage their own care.
Feature photo: With missed appointments costing the NHS £290 million annually, the “Tap the NHS App” campaign encourages users to enable notifications to easily track, cancel, or rearrange care—freeing up vital slots for others. (Credit: The Muslim News/Gemini)Rachel Kayani, Science Tutor and Writer
