Find health help with NHS website and/ or free app.
The NHS in Kent has a free app* and website to help you find the right treatment, especially when you are not sure what to do or who to contact.
Whether you have a baby with a high temperature, a child who is being sick, a teenager who is feeling low, or you have sprained your ankle and for many other health problems , the groundbreaking Health Help Now app series can guide you to the service that will help you best.
Developed by Kent and Medway GPs, hospital doctors, paramedics and other health professionals, more than 20,000 local people are already using it to get health help.
Health Help Now is free and available online at www.healthhelpnow-nhs.net.
Dr Chris Markwick, Urgent Care GP Lead for NHS Medway Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), who oversaw development of the app, said: “Health Help Now is putting our local community more in control of their own health and helping them find the right treatment quickly when they need it.
“It has useful information and advice for people of every age. By using Health Help Now, people should be able to find the service in Kent and Medway that can help them, whatever time it is and wherever they are.”
Health Help Now, which works on smartphones, tablets and computers, lists common symptoms – such as breathing problems, injury, and sickness – and offers suggestions for treatment for them based on five different age groups: baby, child, teenager, adult and older adult.
It lists the most suitable option for most people first, with other suggestions following in order. It shows the nearest services, indicates whether services are open or closed and provides a map of their location and directions.
If you have a smartphone or tablet, an app to download will soon be available. Downloading Health Help Now on your Apple or Android device gives users the added bonus of being able to store your own health-related information including contact details of health professionals such as your midwife or district nursing team. You can also set reminders for appointments, make notes and favourite details for services such as your dentist or GP practice, for quick access.
Kent and Medway are believed to be the first places in the country to have a web app with such detailed information about local services for different symptoms.
Dr Markwick said: “We all know that the NHS can be confusing and people sometimes go straight to A&E because they are not sure what else to do.
“It is particularly useful for young adults, parents of young children and people of working age who may be less familiar with their local NHS services than other people and who may, as a result, sometimes end up in A&E when they don’t really need to.
“Health Help Now can help those people who know they don’t have a life-threatening illness or injury to investigate where they can go for treatment. Since the launch of the web app in December 2013 we have seen a reduction in the number of people attending A&E when they don’t need to be there.
“I am recommending it to my patients and I hope everyone who lives or works in Kent and Medway will download it to their phone or save it to their computer (instructions on how to do this are on Health Help Now) so they have it ready if they need it, whether they are at home and out and about.
“That will help them and, by keeping A&E free for those who really need it, it will also help the NHS focus lifesaving care on the most seriously ill and injured patients.”
Web: www.healthhelpnow-nhs.net
Download: search “Health Help Now” in the Apple App store or Android Google Play store*
Twitter - @NHSHealthHelp / #healthhelpnow
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/nhshealthhelpnow
For urgent health advice 24 hours a day, or if you don’t have internet access, phone 111.