Hospify has become the first general-use medical messaging app to be made available in the official NHS Apps Library.
After more than a year of rigorous technical testing and assessment, the NHS organisations behind the Apps Library (which include NHS Digital, NHS England, the Department of Health and Social Care, General Practitioners, Public Health England, NICE, the MHRA, and the CQC) have approved the app for use by any professional or patient across the UK’s health and care system.
Hospify, which is available on both iOS and Android devices for free, provides a simple yet powerful tool for clinical professionals and patients looking for a user-friendly, compliant and convenient alternative to unsafe, marketing data-driven consumer apps like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.
Surveys suggest that more than 500,000 NHS staff are already using these kinds of non-compliant consumer apps to communicate sensitive patient-related information while at work.
“We’re delighted that NHS Digital has seen fit to publish Hospify in the official NHS Apps Library, signalling that it is appropriate for us right across the health and care system.” commented James Flint, CEO. “We’re also incredibly proud that Hospify is the first – and so far, the only – general-purpose messaging app to be given this stamp of approval for use by both medical staff and patients.
“The rise of the coronavirus is underlining the growing importance of telehealth in general and digital clinical communications in particular. At a time when the negative effects of poor data privacy, unsolicited data harvesting and aggressive behavioural targeting are dominating the news agenda and undermining the way our society works, it’s fantastic that the NHS has taken this positive step to stem the erosion of privacy as both healthcare professionals and their patients begin to rely increasingly on their mobile devices for the provision of care.”
CTO Neville Dastur said: “With Hospify, any health professional or patient can now be confident that they can communicate safely and quickly with colleagues and peers with all the ease and efficiency of the best consumer messaging apps, but without any compromise to their data or privacy.”
