Closing the digital divide: How local Healthwatch is helping to shape the future of digital health services

As the NHS continues its push towards online consultations, digital patient records and app-based access, two London borough local Healthwatch services, both delivered by Public Voice, have been among the very few in the country to go beyond simply responding to national digital health policy by gathering direct evidence from patients about what digitisation means for them in practice. The work, in Barnet and Croydon, shows that for many people going digital is welcome, but for others it risks leaving them further behind. 

Why an independent voice matters 

Health and care systems function better when there is a genuinely independent voice able to surface uncomfortable truths and reach people that commissioners and providers routinely miss. Healthwatch is not part of the NHS, a council, or a care provider, and that independence is what lets it sit within communities and hear things that wouldn’t otherwise reach decision-makers. 

In July 2026, each of our four local Healthwatch services published an annual report highlighting the positive changes to health and care services that happen when our teams connect with patients and residents in each of the boroughs they serve, listening, learning, and sharing the voices of real people through meaningful, independent engagement. 

Healthwatch Barnet: Putting patient voices at the centre of NHS Online 

When the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) launched its national NHS Online Trust consultation, Healthwatch Barnet were among three other local Healthwatch organisations to conduct a survey to gain insights into people’s experiences, surveying patients directly at Barnet’s hospitals to understand how confident people really felt using online health services. 

The results revealed a clear split. Many patients were comfortable and confident navigating online services, but others, including disabled people and those who are not fluent in English, described real, practical barriers to access. That evidence carried weight: it led DHSC to commit to developing a new Patient and Carer Engagement Plan, implementation of the Accessible Information Standard, and to improved access to language-matched clinicians for patients who need it. 

Digital exclusion also came through strongly in Healthwatch Barnet’s GP Mystery Shopping exercise, in which researchers experienced GP access processes firsthand. The findings led directly to the creation of a new Reasonable Adjustments Process for patients who prefer phone-based support, along with the introduction of NHS App Ambassadors: trained staff based within GP surgeries who help patients get to grips with the NHS App in person. 

Recognising that digital-only routes were leaving some patients confused, Healthwatch Barnet also produced its ‘Access Your GP’ guide in a deliberately paper-based, offline-friendly format, offering a low-tech solution to a very modern problem to ensure that people who struggle with digital access still have a clear route into GP services. 

The organisation’s engagement work has also captured what patients need before they’ll trust digital infrastructure with their health information. On the subject of neighbourhood health record-sharing, residents were clear that they need “simply worded information and security assurances” before agreeing to have their health records shared digitally, a reminder that trust and not just technology is the real foundation of digital transformation. 

Healthwatch Croydon: Evidence from the frontline of virtual care 

Healthwatch Croydon was one of the same small handful of Healthwatch organisations, again, just three nationally, to run its own patient survey in response to the NHS Online consultation, rather than relying solely on a written submission. Between February and March 2026, the organisation surveyed patients across four hospital specialties: gynaecology, urology, ophthalmology and gastroenterology. 

The findings painted a nuanced picture. Many patients valued virtual appointments for the time and travel costs they saved, with one respondent noting: “If it were online and faster to get through to someone, then yes, that would help. I’m struggling to call my GP for appointments”. 

But the same research found that virtual consultations are “not appropriate for certain groups, e.g. older people who still prefer face-to-face appointments”, and Healthwatch Croydon used its response to flag wider risks, including digital exclusion, the need for stronger coordination across the NHS, and the danger of a “two-tier system” emerging between those who can access digital services easily and those who can’t. 

Healthwatch Croydon’s research also uncovered a telling gap between awareness and willingness when it comes to newer NHS services. Only 44% of respondents said they were aware of Pharmacy First, the service allowing pharmacists to treat certain conditions without a GP appointment, through channels like their GP, TV or the NHS itself. But among the 56% who hadn’t previously heard of it, three in four said they would use it once they understood what it offered. The finding suggests that for some digital and service innovations, the barrier isn’t reluctance but simply a lack of awareness. 

A shared approach to digital fairness 

Across both boroughs, the message from Healthwatch Barnet and Croydon is consistent: digitisation can genuinely improve access to health services, but only if it’s designed with the people most likely to be excluded from it firmly in mind. By choosing to gather direct evidence from patients rather than relying on assumptions, both local Healthwatch have secured real commitments from national bodies, informed practical changes at GP surgery level, and made sure that as the NHS goes digital, seldom heard and digitally excluded patients aren’t left behind.