With the growth in mobile phone apps it can be difficult to know where to start if you are looking to make a few health improvements in your life. We have selected a few NHS supported apps for you to consider:
Health Help Now has been developed with input from local GPs, hospital doctors, and other health professionals. It lists common symptoms and offers suggestions for treatment. The one which works best for most people is listed first and the other suggestions follow in order. Health Help Now then links through to local services, and shows whether they are open or closed and their location.
For patients using an alternative to A&E could mean:
For the NHS this could mean:
By using Health Help Now you are helping the NHS save A&E for those who really need it.
If you require urgent treatment for symptoms which are not listed on Health Help Now, please ring NHS 111.
Download free from the Apple Store or
Download free for Android Phones
This app is designed to help you quit smoking over 28 days. It provides daily tips, advice and support, and you'll be rewarded for meeting goals. If you stay smokefree for the 28-day programme you're up to five times more likely to quit for good.
Regularly drinking more than 14 units of alcohol a week risks harming your health. Alcohol apps let you check how much alcohol you're drinking and the number of calories you're putting away too.
Download the Drink Free Days app
The One You Easy Meals recipes app is a great free way of helping everybody eat tasty healthier meals. Use it to search for easy calorie-counted recipes for breakfast, lunch, evening meals and puddings.
Keep track with the handy shopping list, which organises the ingredients you need by supermarket aisle, and learn more about being food smart and making healthier choices.
Download the Healthy Eating app
Many of us eat and drink too much sugar without realising it. The Change4Life Sugar Smart app lets you scan the bar code and food and drink labels to see how much total sugar they contain. That way you can make healthier choices when shopping for food and cut your sugar intake.
The NHS Couch to 5K plan is designed to get you off the sofa and running 5km in just nine weeks. This gradual running plan is a free and easy way of getting fitter and healthier and has helped tens of thousands of people so far.
The plan is delivered through a series of podcasts that can be downloaded to any mobile device, and is supported by the Health Unlocked online Couch to 5K community.
Not so much an app but this link provides you with the chance to build your own action plan to improve your own mental wellbeing and tackle common mental health problems such as stress, sleep problems, low mood, anxiety, panic, trauma, obsessions and compulsions and social anxiety. Don't suffer in silence, every year 1 in 4 of us will suffer with a mental health problem, build a plan today>
WaitLess uses real-time updates and geo-location technology, to give you current waiting times at all of our A&E and minor injuries units in east Kent – drawn from the official NHS system.
This information is combined with up-to-the-minute travel time information, giving a ranking of the best places to aim for if you have a minor injury.
Currently being tested but the NHS App will offer access to a symptom checker, online access to appointments, repeat prescriptions and medical records as well as allowing you to register as an organ donor.
A virtual assistant will help run you through a symptom checker and provide advice.
Looking for more Apps? Try the NHS Apps Library
111 is the NHS non-emergency number. It's fast, easy and free. Call 111 and speak to a highly trained adviser, supported by healthcare professionals.
The NHS website. Take control of your health and wellbeing. Get medical advice, information about healthcare services and support for a healthy life.
Patient is one of the most trusted medical resources online, supplying evidence based information on a wide range of medical and health topics to patients and health professionals.
