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Android and iPhone apps for NHS Direct

3 June 2011

NHS Direct Android App on htc phoneThere is now a free NHS Direct application for Android and iPhone smartphones and Andriod Tablets / iPads. The app is available to download from the Android MarketPlace or Apple itunes

I think this is a great idea, although the application doesn't appear to be as good as it could be. I've installed it to my HTC Android phone, but some of the features don't seam to work. The Guides section doesn't work at all, the contact button does not work as the pop-up is too big for my screen (should work on smartphones with larger screens) and when using the sympton checker I get "Sorry we are unable to connect to NHS Direct at this time." - I do have a strong signal (I was able to download the application) so I think it may be a problem at the server end.

If this was working correctly then I still don't think it is as useful as it could be. The sympton checker only appears to ask some basic questions before referring you on to appropriate further help.

I would like to have seen something similar to the NHS clinical knowledge summaries, which I found particularly useful recently when I was diagnosed with Shingles and used it to get the NHS patient information.

Those with other smartphones that aren't supported can used the online mobile NHS Direct site to perform a similar check.

Summary

Good idea, but let down by some bugs / issues. Worth grabbing if you want to check through some things before knowing whether to call NHS direct or your GP etc., but not as useful as it could be.