The National Health Service in the UK has confirmed that it wants to work with the new range of health apps that are sweeping across mobile phones by creating a kitemark that highlights those that it approves of. Those that qualify will then have access to users' medical records for inclusion.
Apps and services like Apple's HealthKit, Google Fit and Microsoft Health - the most recent to be announced - will potentially be able to incorporate the same information shared by doctors and hospitals in the NHS system.
The NHS kitemark will ensure that users know that their details will be safe within the awarded apps.
It is part of the NHS' plans to become a totally paperless system by 2018. In addition to access to your own medical records, the organisation wants to turn the red book that records baby's immunisations into a digital version.
It is hoped that online access to medical and care records will be implemented by 2017. And with patient consent, they will also be shared across the entire NHS system electronically.
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It may seem archaic in this day and age, but changing doctor at the moment could mean you have to start almost from scratch with your medical history stuck in a cabinet elsewhere. By making them digital and accessible, another doctor can access them immediately, or a hospital will know exactly what medication you are on, your blood type or whether you have allergies when you are admitted.
Currently only four per cent of records are accessible online.
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