NHS app will monitor step counts to get people back to work

Doctors will use the NHS app to monitor patients’ step counts and offer therapy as part of a government plan to tackle unhealthy lifestyles and get people back to work.

Victoria Atkins, the health secretary, revealed that the health service would make use of “the wealth of data” collected by smartphones to help prevent serious illnesses and boost economic growth.

A revamped NHS app will become “the front door to prevention”, as part of a £3.4 billion technology and productivity plan announced in the budget on Wednesday.

This will enable the health service to link up with data such as step counts and heart rate, already routinely stored on many mobile phones, to provide personalised advice, screening and treatment that stops people developing major diseases.