How do patient apps get NHS approval?

Patient apps reach the NHS through two distinct pathways, neither of which is a single unified approval system.

The most visible route is the NHS Apps Library [Ep 88]. Apps assessed against NHS standards can list themselves there with explicit confirmation they've met those standards. This carries genuine credibility globally, particularly if the app feeds data back to NHS systems. However, this library approach works best for tools solving defined problems within existing NHS infrastructure.

For apps used in clinical practice without formal NHS adoption, the bar is set by individual clinicians and their organisations. Rather than conforming to a regulatory standard, the app simply needs to meet the evidence threshold that the prescribing clinician requires [#158]. This means a GP or hospital consultant makes a local decision based on their own assessment of clinical validity and usefulness.

The practical difference matters: getting on the NHS Apps Library requires passing assessed standards and positions you as NHS-endorsed. Operating within NHS care without that formal listing relies on clinician-by-clinician adoption, which is slower but avoids centralised gatekeeping. Some founders pursue both. Others focus entirely on demonstrating clinical utility to individual practitioners and health systems willing to integrate the tool into their workflows.

The fragmentation reflects NHS structure itself: no single approval process exists because the NHS is not a single purchaser.