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SNP Ministers have been accused of putting grievance ahead of Scottish patients after it emerged they decided against using an existing English NHS app after being warned about "political optics". The Nats promised a Scottish app back in 2021, two years after the one in England went live.
But despite spending £17million on its development, the app has only been trialled in one part of Scotland for one speciality. Called MyCare, it is due to go live next year but 'national priority services' will not go live until 2028 and the app will not be completed until 2030 - 11 years after the English one went live.
SNP Ministers could have used the English app as a base for the Scottish app, potentially reducing the time in development. However, unelected civil servants warned them about the "political optics of adopting an English solution".
The Telegraph says the statement was included in a list of "threats" in an assessment for government ministers prepared by NHS Education for Scotland. Scottish Conservative health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane MSP said: "The mask has well and truly slipped with the SNP.
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"They'd rather play the politics of grievance than do the right thing and finally give Scottish patients access to an NHS app that should have been rolled out years ago. That is shocking and pathetic in equal measure given SNP ministers have wasted years failing to get their version off the ground.
"Ministers must urgently apologise for preferring to stoke division with Westminster than agreeing to roll out this app as quickly as possible and make Scotland's NHS fit for the modern age."
The English app allows patients to book appointments, order prescriptions and see their medical records. The assessment was obtained by the Telegraph through Freedom of Information legislation.
The paper reported that officials identified benefits of using the English app as making use of "investment already made within the wider NHS," and it would lead to the "creation of services that improves the public experience in cross border scenarios".
However, it also claimed the app had not been "designed or built to be deployed in another territory". The paper said "Scottish specific content" would need to be added while it also warned of the time it would take to get the code shared and that a "substantial programme" had been required for the NHS in Wales to adopt the app.
Bureaucrats also claimed Scotland could become a "junior partner" in the app and concluded the cons of using the English app outweighed the benefits, despite patients down south being offered a "comprehensive digital service".
A Scottish Government spokesman said: "The business case referred to was not written by the Scottish Government. The full business case for the Digital Front Door programme has been prepared by NHS Education for Scotland. We are now fully reviewing and scrutinising it.
"As wider independent analysis emphasises, it was apparent that NHS England's app would be challenging to adopt in Scotland given differing structures and requirements. This was confirmed by engagement with NHS England."
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