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.

I think a lot of people just assume they’ll be Forever Young - firing on all cylinders with 20/20 vision and the hearing of a bat. No arthritic fingers for them, no siree.

It’s not necessarily a matter of not learning tech in the first place, it’s about declining sight, dexterity and the ability to constantly navigate new developments.

The real problem with apps is the person ,and it must be a person in the beginning , who designs it. I remember reading medical students long ago had to try out age outfits which made them aware how uncomfortable trembling hands, aging bones and sight and hearing loss were. It would be good for the techno genius to have this experience. DH has poor sight and tremors but is fit in other ways at 80+ but needs to speak to people. He has real problems with his iPhone. I love technology but am no longer as mentally agile as I was. Che sera and all that

Completely agree my parents don't have smart phones so when a link is sent they can't open it. So they have to forward the message to my phone so I can open it for them but of course they also don't know how to do that so it means going round to sort it out

Absolutely agree. My DM said that in her sixties she felt she could do anything, she swam every day, travelled extensively, took on new interests and challenges. She’d had an exciting and active life and she didn’t see that changing.

However in her seventies she said every year felt like five, and in her eighties she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

We don’t know how we will age until it happens, and when it does it’s entirely random. There’s no virtue in making it to a great age intact, you’ve just been lucky.

I started losing my vision out of the blue, 3 years ago aged 42. Turns out it’s a genetic condition, which no one would have any idea of until things start going wrong. It could have started happening in childhood or I could have lived to 100 and died never knowing I had it.

Things can happen to anyone at any age.

Sometimes it isn't, for the elderly / disabled. I know an older person who just can't cope with touchscreens in any form as her hands are too shaky - just always ends up touching the wrong thing. Then there's poor eyesight, forgetfulness, anxiety around new technologies, reduced ability to learn new things with age etc. It seems wrong that the people who are most likely to need lots of medical appointments are made to struggle with this.

Absolutely agree. It’s a disgrace. And the tech knowledge required for hospital and gp appts, banks, utilities etc means the older generation loses their independence earlier than needed and it also places a huge workload on their children.

When will the NHS realise this simply does not work for the elderly and vulnerable?

There should be the option to receive paper or digital, like with most things. I have this option with my bank, utilities, council tax etc. Why not medical appointments?
I actually thought it was a scam myself the first time I got one. My number one rule to avoid scammers is generally not to open links in texts. Plenty scammers mimic government departments.

Not read all the answers.
My issue with the app (as a none oldie) is all the pin codes it asks for.

So, replying to a message required clicking on a link (ok), putting in a date of birth (ok) then entering a PIN from the message that couldn't be cut and pasted. My dyslexic brain cant cope with that.

So, Id say the app isn't particularly friendly for those who struggle with memory and/or numbers.

That is hard luck @Skinkytoilet. Loss of vision takes some adjusting to. I had perfect eyesight till well into my fifties but it’s fallen off a cliff since. I feel very disoriented when I can’t see clearly. I think it’s underestimated how much of a barrier these things are to living a full life.

My bf is just 70. She has never 'got' technology. To be honest, I'm not that great with it these days, but I've got kids who make sure I keep up to date with the things I need and are available to help if things go pear shaped. My friend has no mobile phone at all, can only use the internet to order things on Amazon and is terrified to Google or do anything else because she thinks she'll get hacked. Her DS is autistic and can't help her.

She still has the expectation that everything will function as it did when she was young. She has to go into the bank to withdraw cash (she's only just started paying contactless). I worry what will happen to her if everything goes paper free, because despite being relatively young, she has absolutely no idea about technology.

I was actually saying this this weekend. My elderly father-in-law, who has early stage dementia, is SO confused every time it sends him a 6-digit code via text message to log in. It's too much for him. I also find the whole 'Patient knows best' thing really confusing, plus I found out recently that I have to give permission to my doctor's surgery before they can share results online!

Paper shouldn't be the default. Of course people who cannot navigate the app etc should have a paper option but I don't need that. Why make the NHS pay for postage and paper for those who don't require it?
The point is choice. You should be able to choose how to engage and people shouldn't be forced into something. Either way

The trouble with posted appointments is that many don’t get delivered in time. Only today, my husband (aged 70) had a text reminding him of his scan appointment this coming Friday - that he’s never received. When he rang them to change it, because he’ll be away, he was told it had been posted 2 weeks ago.
Perhaps patients should be asked which method of communication they would prefer.
Also, some elderly people are tech savvy, my 91 year old neighbour texts, WhatsApps and emails, as well as online banking!

cross posted!

Paper should be the default because it reduces the chances of vulnerable people falling through the cracks. If you can use the app you can also opt out of paper comms. The cost of a missed appointment or of someone missing vital treatment far outweighs the cost of stamps and paper.

This tech has made so many organisations including the NHS INCREDIBLY FUCKING LAZY

Yes, that’s how I read it

Paper shouldn't be the default. Of course people who cannot navigate the app etc should have a paper option but I don't need that. Why make the NHS pay for postage and paper for those who don't require it?

There should be a system whereby people who don't require a paper option can opt out. People who cannot navigate the app, for whatever reason, can't so easily opt in to receiving paper communications.

The NHS itself is not tech savvy, it has multiple systems that don’t talk to each other and even when the system is the same, the way they operate across different trusts is not.

The app is fine, it’s the reliance on it to the exclusion of personal contact that isn’t.

Im ok with tech, DH is not, he can only make phone calls, he cant text, messaging or use apps. He can read an email but not reply. If he was on his own he'd be screwed. Part of it is literacy skills and part never having used tech, now cant remember what to do.
doesn't stop his scrolling of YouTube and scam posts on fb

This generation of 80+ year olds at least mostly have kids who can help them.

With the fall in population as many more couples decide not to have children, this generation of 20-40 year olds will be a bit stuck when they're old and live alone and their vision fades, their cognitive skills decline and their fingers become arthritic.

This feels like a lose-lose situation to me..

Bad for patients and I'd imagine the NHS is a pretty big and consistent customer of the Royal Mail postal service, who are always going on about how parcels are more profitable because hardly anyone sends letters any more.

Yes it’s not great at all.
Clearly the nhs uses tax payers money so we are answerable to that
We are told to send a text for appointments now if people have a mobile number registered but hopeless if Gertrude age 93 has a Nokia brick in her drawer (switched off for emergencies!!)
However lost appointments and technology issues are a real challenge.
Alot of appointment teams in the nhs now call people to ask them about their appointments asking, are they aware but this is meant to be moving to a text service soon “click if you’re confirming your coming”’or another option to cancel and discharge and another
option to re-schedule it however if you don’t have a smart phone and the where with all to do all this - it’s a problem.

I’m on a digital working group and meet with lots of other NHS colleagues from around the uk (over teams) and it’s a problem all over.

They are rolling out lots of events where people can bring their phone and get help installing the app and help using it so they are trying to raise awareness but it all takes time.

I manage, too, but - for example - today I received an email informing me a recent routine test result was ready for me to access, giving a link to the NHS portal. So I went through all the login procedures, found the page, & found that nothing has been added or updated. The most recently entered result is from January26.

I can, fortunately, very easily check if the data has been changed because I had made a written note of all results, with dates against them.

The recent result is for a very routine check-up so, atm, I'm not bothered to go chasing around to find out what's happening. But, if it were vital and if I was worried about it, it would be a problem. I'm on my own, over 80 and family are a couple of thousand miles away. I'm "IT literate" but not especially IT savvy. I'm not sure what will happen when I start to lose capacity.