The NHS App has prevented an average of 22,000 trips each month to GP surgeries for appointments and repeat prescriptions, according to the latest figures from NHS Digital.

Its research found patients’ preference for the app resulted in 4,100 fewer bus and taxi journeys and 5,500 less train and motorbike trips to surgeries.

NHS Digital said more than 200,000 car, bus and taxi trips to practices were saved between April and December last year. 

It estimated that without the app, some 200,000 appointments and collections of repeat prescriptions would have taken place after a drive to the surgery during that period. 

Nearly six million repeat prescriptions and over 460,000 GP appointments have been made through the app in the last four months.

The figures also revealed the app, which has more than 26 million people signed up, reduced the NHS’s carbon dioxide output by 78 tonnes.

“By using the NHS App to manage appointments and order repeat prescriptions online thousands of patient journeys to GP practices are being saved every month,” said NHS Digital head of delivery Susie Day.

“The NHS App is providing people with a convenient and secure way to access healthcare and is having a wider positive environmental impact. Sustainability is a key priority for NHS Digital and the organisation is working to reduce its carbon footprint.”