COLUMN: Our new app aims to help you find the fastest treatment for minor illness and injuries

This month, I’m going to write about a new app we’ve launched in the NHS.

In Lincolnshire we have a smartphone app, designed to help people choose the least pressured urgent and emergency care services and to understand waiting times better.

The WaitLess app combines current waiting time, queue numbers and travel-time at urgent care facilities in the county. This information helps people make an informed decision about where to seek the fastest treatment for minor illness and injuries. The app also displays all available pharmacies in the area as an alternative treatment option.

The times shown on the app combine travel, waiting and treatment time, to give patients the most accurate picture of how long they may spend at each location, allowing them to decide on the most appropriate place to go to. The app also shows a list of services available at each site, as well as parking and opening times.

The app will help the public and NHS services as when people sustain an injury, such as a cut that needs stitching or a nasty sprain and/or a minor illness, they often attend the nearest Accident and Emergency Department for treatment. What many people don’t realise is that a lot of minor injuries or illness can be dealt with at other facilities across Lincolnshire, such as our urgent treatment centres.

WaitLess can help direct people with less serious conditions to alternative sites where they can be treated more quickly, which in turn will help to reduce pressure on our urgent and emergency care facilities.

This app is the first of its kind to combine live waiting times with travel times, which as we know, can be unpredictable in Lincolnshire, empowering people to make more informed decisions about where to receive their care.

As I’ve mentioned in previous columns, there are a range of ways to access healthcare, including self-care, asking your pharmacist, contacting your GP surgery, going online to NHS 111 online or calling NHS 111.Please note WaitLess currently only displays waiting times for facilities in Lincolnshire, and therefore those living on the borders of the county will find that waiting and treatment times at their local facilities outside of Lincolnshire are not included.