Local NHS promoting trusted technology to improve health

Heywood Middleton and Rochdale Clinical Commissioning Group (NHS HMR CCG) has joined forces with ORCHA (the Organisation for the Review of Care and Health Apps) to provide an online app library

Health and care leaders in Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale are introducing a new website that provides information on hundreds of the best apps to improve health and wellbeing.

There are many thousands of health and wellbeing apps available on the market but they are not all good quality and some may use data inappropriately or even give misleading information. 

Heywood Middleton and Rochdale Clinical Commissioning Group (NHS HMR CCG) has joined forces with ORCHA (the Organisation for the Review of Care and Health Apps) to provide an online app library, listing apps that have been checked and rated in a range of categories. This means people can find out about the quality and safety of the app before they download it.

The website is open to anyone in the borough to search for a rated app that may help them to improve or manage their condition. Providers of care, including doctors, nurses and therapists in the borough will also be able to recommend specific apps that could benefit their patients. In some cases patients will be encouraged to register on the platform to allow their practitioners to see their progress whilst using the apps.

Dr Venkatesh Mallya is a local GP in Littleborough and the clinical lead for technology in Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale and he has helped to arrange for patients to access the apps.

He said: “We have enabled a website where patients can search for and download recommended apps that will help them to manage or improve their conditions, whether that’s related to mental health and wellbeing, diabetes, respiratory problems or help to stop smoking. There are literally hundreds of apps to cover many, many conditions.

“Patients can see at a glance which apps are rated as the best according to the expert clinical analysis that the apps have undergone. We are rolling out awareness and training sessions for practitioners across the borough to familiarise themselves with the platform so they can routinely recommend apps to their patients.

“Anyone in the Rochdale borough can also access the site to look for the best apps that may help them."

The platform is available at: ourrochdale.org.uk/apps