To expect the elderly and other vulnerable people to be able to navigate online NHS app?

[Allonthesametrain]

Well just this. Fortunately as family we are able to help and it's heartbreaking when your elderly parents get a message and don't know to respond because it takes you to an app.

The letter for an appt can come after the online confirmation so that guarantee isn't there. For our older generation, the worry of making sure on time, leaving extra early, getting whatever it takes to get there.

As I said, fortunately as family we are there to help but it makes me worry about those who don't have support. I know SS will most likely be involved but how much due to their caseload, no matter how much they care and are amazing.

Fully aware of aĺl issues of funding but there really needs to be a better way than to send a text to an 87 year old to then go to an app which becomes overwhelming.

Yes, my aibu was the expectation for everyone to be able to navigate apps amd online everything.

Sorry, if you read my post, the whole point was of course it's unreasonable to expect elderly and vulnerable be able to use them.

Cool You can come and explain it to my 90 year old DM who is deaf cant even see well enough to dial phone nos anymore and English is not her first language
While i sit watching with a bucket of popcorn!

My job is managing databases, data, logins, system access and suchlike.

I hate the 5 separate apps, none of which work properly, the random clinics that don't get involved with them and use phone calls and scraps of paper, the text messages saying 'make an appointment' (where?) and the insistence of the GPs that they will not activate the actually useful bit of the NHS app. Oh, and the 'communication from the hospital and the patient is not enough to renew the prescription, we also have to have a consultation with them at a time of our choosing because no woman over 50 can possibly work for a living'.

My absolutely most hated clinic though, is the one at a different hospital that 'does not accept nor respond to emails from patients, everything must be done by phone between the hours of 9.30 and 11.30, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 1.00-2.45'. Mate, you're the fucking Hearing Centre.

They were talking about this on Loose Women today Katie Piper has been locked out of hers and JSP has ended up with two

See also banking.
The way we are cutting off elderly people from being able to participate in society is appalling.

No-one cares as they think it’s just that generation and the next lot coming up will be fine as they’re tech savvy. Except they won’t be when their eyesight is too poor to see a small screen, hands too arthritic to use a keyboard, too muddled to remember login details

@TeaPot496 you can only have other people on the app if they are the same GP practice - which is utterly ridiculous as the majority of people are not going to have the same practice as their parents

You can. It's a really simple and obvious solution to the OP's issue. Why haven't you done this OP?

What astounded me was that the dementia clinic sent my mum a letter, but didn't think to send me one. It's for someone with alxheimers, but they didn't seem to realise that meant she wouldn't understand the letter, eould put it down somewhere random, which meant I wouldnt see it when I went round, and they wouldn't send me a duplicate. Maddening.

You think the app is bad? I hope their GP surgery doesn’t have the Emma assistant answering the phones for them. I’m 44 and can’t get past Emma to speak to someone never mind someone in their 80s! Everything revolves around money now and sod everyone else who is a casualty of this. It really does stink.

You can be copied in but with her consent. It can get registered on the system that you’re the contact.
If it was a first appointment the referring GP should have got consent to pass on your details too as the contact.
If she’s got ongoing appointments you can bring it up at an appointment but it all has to be done with consent

Check the post directly above yours, for a very likely reason.

Agree that paper first should be available and the default, but the postal services are so dire in many places appointments are being missed without the patient knowing about them.

I’ve opted in at my hospital to send appointments by letter. I have M.S and this has caused short term memory problems. When they texted I’d read it, but if I can’t get up immediately to put it on the calendar I’d forget it. I have the letter attached to the fridge, that way I’m reminded all the time. The old fashioned ways work best for me.

I’m 59, pretty tech savvy but unfortunately have a neurological condition as mentioned. It isn’t just the elderly that can and do struggle with it.

I'm neither elderly or vulnerable and that bloody app won't accept my photo. I followed all the guidelines but nope. Several photos tried and no joy.
I'm fed up explaining this to the receptionist who just says to try a different photo. I have you silly moo!

As a PP mentioned it’s easy to set it up so that anyone that finds it difficult to use the NHS can allow someone proxy access. You can do it via the app or at the Doctors surgery. I’m set up for my Mum. She has poor eyesight so can’t see the app easily. My phone is also set up to receive her NHS messages. It works really well, if I get a message, I can give her a call.
she doesn’t have a problem using tech she just has a problem seeing it.

@HoldItAllTogether are you at the same surgery?

Yes, it’s not just the NHS. My DM was looking to buy a bungalow. The solicitor was online. DM got an email telling her to complete some paperwork and upload documents to a portal. My poor DM was completely flummoxed. The solicitor had the cheek to tell her it was all really easy. Even though I’m reasonably savvy with such things, it certainly didn’t seem easy.

I think there's a point at which the brain gives up being able to take on new technology. My mum could happily record vinyl onto cassette for the car, but could not cope with a video recorder, despite me pointing out it was exactly the same apart from the size of the tapes. Although, funnily, she could manage to set up her soaps to record in advance on sky 🤣🤣🤣

I'm getting close to retiring myself now, and although I've worked in the computer industry (both software and hardware tech) for many years, there's a number of recent techs that I just can't grasp, but its random. For example I can work AI, but Canva just does not compute, riddle me that!

Maybe from your POV. My mum is quite tech savvy but even she misses stuff. My dad is completely lost with mobile tech

As @saraclara said though, that relies on your mum opening up her entire medical record to you which someone shouldn't have to do to get help with basic admin. Not everyone will have a trusted person like your mum does. it's not fit for purpose. Not to mention the frustration of looping round between surgery apps and NHS apps and booking links going round in circles then eventually spitting out into a dead end "your GP surgery has not enabled this feature"... so why did my GP surgery website send me to this bit of the NHS app.. Then she tries to ring up and there's a half hour recorded message telling her to put the phone down and try the app "for her convenience".

OP I think your title should be "AIBU NOT to expect elderly and vulnerable people... "

Yes totally agree and it’s not just apps. My Mum is pretty good at this stuff but she is meant to record twice daily blood pressure and has to send it in via on online questionnaire which makes her do a 2-factor authentication every time - twice a day filling in a code. She doesn’t know how to find the autofill thing. Who is going to steal her blood pressure results?! Some common sense please!!

My dad could have done the same at 85. But he's now 94 and can't do it anymore. People's brains age and even without strokes they do gradually lose some abilities. Same happened to my mil fine with phones at 90 but useless by 94. This is what's not taken into account

What I didn’t realise until I worked for the NHS is that if you look at the appointment letter via the app (within 3 days of receiving it on the app) you don’t get a paper copy of the letter. It only gets sent out if the appointment letter is not viewed on the app for 3 days. We had a lot of patients complaining they didn’t get the appointment letters and we couldn’t understand this.

I'm guessing you aren't in your 80s/90s so haven't a clue how difficult it can be for some elderly people.