A new feature in the NHS App that allows patients to track their prescriptions has been rolled out to 1,500 community pharmacies, NHS England has announced.

The prescription tracking offer is expected to be made available to nearly 5,000 pharmacies over the next 12 months – covering 60% of those in England.

Patients will be able to check on their prescriptions through real-time ‘Amazon-style’ updates and receive notifications such as ‘ready to collect’ or ‘dispatched by pharmacy’.

According to NHS England, the new service will help free up time for pharmacists to provide advice to patients, as currently almost half (45%) of phone calls to community pharmacies are estimated to be from patients asking if their prescription is ready.

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Dr Vin Diwakar, clinical transformation director at NHS England, said the new feature offered people more control over how they manage their healthcare and will free up pharmacists’ time.

‘The new Amazon-style feature will also help to tackle the administrative burden on pharmacists so that they can spend more of their time providing health services and advice to patients rather than updates on the status of their prescriptions,’ he said.

Olivier Picard, chair of the National Pharmacy Association said the new feature was a game-changer for pharmacists.

‘Pharmacies want to do all they can to embrace new technology and make the vital services they offer as easy and convenient as possible for patients to access,’ he said.

‘Pharmacy teams are under significant pressure and are dispensing a record number of items, with 1.6 million people visiting their local pharmacy every day.

‘Anything that allows pharmacies to focus on delivering first-class patient care, rather than spending time on phone calls to provide prescription status updates is welcome news.’

He added that it was important that the new prescription tracking feature was quickly made available to all independent community pharmacies to help maximise the benefit of the service for patients across the country.

Company Chemists’ Association chief executive Malcolm Harrison said the service would allow pharmacy teams to spend greater time with other patients to deliver important services like Pharmacy First.

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‘Tracking prescriptions through the NHS App will give patients more confidence their prescriptions are being processed, saving them the time and trouble of calling or making unnecessary trips to their pharmacy,’ he added.

The news was also welcomed by Tase Oputu, Royal Pharmaceutical Society England Board chair.

‘The introduction of prescription tracking in the NHS App is a significant step forward for patients and pharmacy teams alike,’ she said.

‘By reducing unnecessary calls and visits, this innovation allows pharmacists to focus more on delivering expert care and vital services. It’s a smart, patient-centred use of technology that supports better access and efficiency across the system.’

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Health and social care secretary Wes Streeting said: ‘This is just one example of our mission to shift the NHS from analogue to digital as we continue to push our health service into the modern age through our Plan for Change.

‘If patients can track the journey of their food shop, they should be able to do the same with their prescriptions.

‘By harnessing the power and efficiency of modern tech, we’re saving patients time, driving productivity and freeing up hardworking pharmacists to do what they do best – helping patients, not providing status updates.’