NHS 24 Online

It has a “chat” function which is not actually a chat, it’s a series of questions that ended for me with a “call 111” instruction. This is a useful first step if you’re not sure if you should be calling or not. It also allows you to search for a pharmacy, dentist, hospital, A&E and more.

It took me a few attempts before I got the ‘right’ answer for a chest infection which wasn’t covered by the tick boxes for fever or colds. But once I figured out how to be triaged for a chest infection the information was spot on. I like the advice the app gives on how to manage symptoms at home.

I downloaded this because I don’t want to put extra pressure on the 111 phone line but it’s almost laughably useless. When I select ‘symptom checker’ it gives me a small selection of symptoms to choose from or ‘none of the above’. When I select ‘none of the above’ it gives me another 5 to choose from. If it’s none of those (they’re very specific like tick bites) then you just get thrown back to the first list. Unless you have one of the very few symptoms listed then there’s no point in even trying. I can’t believe that our national health service is represented by such a rubbish app and that the options are so limited. It’s farcical how bad it actually is.