Lee Rickles, Chief Information Officer, Humber Teaching Foundation Trust (Credit: Humber Teaching Foundation Trust)
Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust has received funding to introduce features that allow patients to manage their appointments and visits directly through the NHS app.
NHS England has asked the trust to lead the work on behalf of 11 other trusts using TPPthe SystmOne electronic patient record (EPR) and share what was learned nationally.
Lee Rickles, chief information officer at Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are very pleased to have been chosen for this opportunity by NHS England. As a trust we are committed to a digital approach and how this aligns with the NHS 10-year plan.
“This introduction will support the patient experience and equip our clinical staff with up-to-date information to support decisions and care.”
The project, which is currently in the development phase, is part of the Route finder programan NHSE initiative allowing people to access information about their secondary care referrals and elective care via the NHS app or nhs.co.uk.
Humber currently uses Accurx to communicate with patients, but Wayfinder will allow key information to appear directly in the NHS app.
Once fully operational, EPR will allow patients to view past and future appointments and visits on the NHS app, receive appointment notifications, updates and documents, and cancel, amend or book appointments.
By improving appointment visibility and enabling digital communication, Wayfinder helps reduce missed appointments and improves patient experience and accessibility, according to NHSE.
It is also intended to support more efficient clinical and administrative workflows and underpins the NHS 10-year health plan, which aims for all NHS trusts to adopt a digital approach.
As well as acting as an appointment management tool, Wayfinder allows patients to complete questionnaires that update their records instantly and enables faster cancellations and rescheduling, helping NHS trusts stay informed and reduce missed appointments and late arrivals.
The trust has committed to keeping other SystmOne organizations updated on progress as work begins, sharing documents, processes and learning to support their future onboarding, with updates provided through a planned monthly meeting.
Meanwhile, in March 2026, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust launched SystmOne to store and manage health information across the trust, with the aim of ensuring doctors have up-to-date and accurate information.
The move aims to improve communications between teams and partner organisations, reduce duplication and paperwork and support better digital integration with other local NHS services.
