NHS App risks leaving patients with sight loss behind, APPG warns

Plans to make the NHS App the health service’s “digital front door” by 2028 must not leave blind and partially sighted patients outside, a parliamentary group has warned.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Eye Health and Visual Impairment’s report, Accessible Healthcare in a Digital NHS, highlights barriers to using the app and receiving health information independently.

Among blind and partially sighted respondents, 53% rated the app inaccessible or only slightly accessible, while just 3% considered it fully accessible. More than half struggled to read letters or documents within the app.

RNIB’s summary of the findings also reports that 46% of respondents who used the app found it difficult or very difficult to use. For 29%, logging in or proving their identity was the hardest part.

For optometrists and dispensing opticians, the findings bring a familiar concern into focus: patients may need someone else to read appointment letters or test results, compromising their privacy and independence.

APPG chair Marsha De Cordova MP said: “But a door that blind and partially sighted people like myself cannot open is not a front door for everyone.”

The group is calling on the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England to improve accessibility before expanding the app’s services, working directly with people who have communication needs.

It wants patients to be able to record their accessibility needs once, in line with the Accessible Information Standard and Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag. Stronger accountability and guaranteed non-digital alternatives are also among its recommendations.

RNIB policy lead Khadija Raza said accessible design and continued offline options would help people manage their health with the same privacy, dignity and independence as everyone else.

The report will be discussed at a House of Commons event on 23 November. Its message is clear: moving healthcare online should widen access, not create another barrier for people with sight loss.

Read RNIB’s summary of the APPG report