The NHS App alone is ‘not sufficient’ for communicating test results to patients, a study has suggested.
The research, published in the BJGP this week, investigated the communication of blood test results in primary care in a mixed-methods systematic review, looking at 71 studies across a 10-year period between 2013 and 2023.
It found that electronic methods of communication such as online access or text messages were ‘generally well accepted’, but that this was not the case for everyone.
It stated: ‘One clear message from this review is that reliance on the NHS App for test communication is not sufficient: a range of methods for test communication are needed to meet the needs of different patients, and for different test results.
‘Practices should ensure they have clear protocols for communicating abnormal or impactful blood test results to ensure patient safety.’
It added that clinicians were also split about whether the direct release of test results to patient was beneficial or could increase problems, such as an increase to workload. The authors said there was a need for further evidence about this impact.
However, they said while there has been pushback against the move to roll out online access to blood test results within the NHS, with concerns over making patients worry more or might find their records confusing, that evidence suggests that fears around this ‘may be largely unfounded’.
The authors said: ‘Evidence from countries such as the USA, where patient portals have been studied for more than a decade, suggests these fears may be largely unfounded, with research showing online access is generally well accepted by patients.
‘Various patient-centred tools for displaying test results in a visual or graphical way have been developed to improve patient understanding, which could be applicable to online portals in the UK, such as the NHS App.’
It comes as women can now be directly referred to breast clinics via the NHS App, without seeing a GP.
NHS England has been contacted for comment.
