The NHS App has piloted ‘significant’ updates to the GP appointment booking feature that make it easier for patients to use, with national rollout expected in the coming weeks.
The redesign has been developed with input from GP surgeries and should not disrupt existing ways of working for practice staff, it was announced in the NHS England’s primary care bulletin, sent out last week.
Although patients have been able to book GP appointments directly in the NHS app for six years, user research showed that patients found the booking process ‘long and confusing’.
Usability testing with 85 participants highlighted several issues, including the difficulty of navigating multiple drop-downs on a single page and uncertainty about whether an appointment had been successfully booked.
The testing also revealed that patients were sensitive to any friction and will easily give up, resulting in avoidable calls to their GP practice as they look for other ways to book an appointment.
‘Significant’ changes have been made across 15 rounds of research with 438 users, including specific accessibility testing with users with visual and physical needs. The updated system was then tested further across 10 GP practices.
The changes include a start page designed to set expectations and offer guidance, such as the ‘Tips from your GP on how to book an appointment’.
Also, the booking process has been broken down into a series of single simple steps, replacing the multiple drop-down menus, which patients had found confusing.
Following the Government’s ‘one thing per page’ design pattern, users now select the appointment type, location and clinician before being shown a list of available appointments which correspond to their selections.
Patients reported this was easier to use as they could focus on answering one question per page.
A more robust ‘check your appointment details’ has also been added after analytics showed many users were exiting before confirming. The new summary page allows patients to review and change their selections before finalising the booking.
A clearer confirmation screen has also been introduced, featuring a banner that clearly communicates successful booking and an ‘add to calendar’ option for patients.
Practices can find out more about the changes here. Practices are encouraged to help further improve the NHS App appointment bookings by sharing their feedback here.
