Pages

Hub pages

Hubs pages act as the primary navigation structure of the NHS App, helping users access the services and information they need.

There are three hubs: Home, Messages and Profile. From these hubs, users can follow links to start various journeys or move deeper into lower menu pages called sub-hubs.

Users navigate between hubs using the bottom navigation bar, which is accessible from wherever you are in the app.

Home

Home is where users start most of their journeys to arrange healthcare or manage their health. It acts as the main menu of the app for almost all health-related tasks.

Home includes core health categories, NHS information and support, and a campaign card.

The Home hub page in the NHS App

Home organises health-related services and data into a set of core categories:

  • Prescriptions – request and track repeat prescriptions, and view medicines history
  • Appointments – book, view, and manage GP appointments
  • Test results – view test result records
  • Vaccinations – check and book vaccinations, and view vaccination records
  • Health conditions – view information about diagnosed health conditions
  • Documents – access letters and other health documents

Most of the services and health information in the app fit into these categories. Research shows the categories have a high first-click success rate, meaning many users are able to navigate to the right place on their first attempt.

NHS information and support

Home also gives users access to broader national NHS services and information resources. These options include 111 online and help finding local health services.

Campaign card

Examples of campaign cards on the Home hub page

Seasonal or topical campaigns are promoted at the bottom of the NHS App home screen, such as COVID or flu vaccines, blood donation or being part of health research. The campaign card helps users to learn about health campaigns.

Messages

Messages is where users can read, and sometimes reply to, messages from their healthcare services. The number and type of inboxes available to them will depend on their GP surgery.

The Messages hub page in the NHS App

Inboxes

The Messages hub contains inboxes depending on what the user's GP surgery or hospital trust has configured. Users may have:

  • a GP surgery inbox for messages from their surgery
  • hospital inboxes for messages from secondary care providers
  • other healthcare service inboxes

The number and type of inboxes available varies based on the IT systems and configurations at each user's care settings. Some users will only have one inbox, while others may have up to 4.

Profile

The purpose of Profile is to display the user's personal information and preferences. Users can:

  • view and update their contact and login details
  • set health preferences
  • manage services for another person
  • change app settings
  • log out of the NHS App
The Profile hub page in the NHS App

Personal information card

At the top of Profile, users see a summary card showing key user details:

  • their name
  • their date of birth
  • their NHS number
  • the option to manage health services for others (proxy access)

This card provides quick access to key identifying information and proxy access functionality. Given its distinct visual appearance, it also helps users have a sense of place in the app when on the Profile hub.

Personal details and app settings

The Profile section is a combination of health and non-health related preferences. Research showed that Profile is the obvious place for users to navigate to for non-health related things like contact details and app settings. However, there are a few health preferences which users expect to be in the Profile section, such as organ donation decision and access to care plans.

Making changes to the structure of a hub page

The hub pages form the core structure of the NHS App. Because of their foundational role in how users navigate and understand the app, these pages are carefully maintained and protected from frequent or big changes.

The Navigation and Onboarding team is responsible for the structure and content of all hub pages and have final say on changes. Any proposed changes to hub pages must be designed, researched and approved by this team.

If you need to add a new journey or service, or believe a change to a hub page would improve the user experience, you should contact the Navigation and Onboarding team early in your design process.

Read the full guidance on the structure of the NHS App

Help improve this pattern

The NHS App design system team would like to hear:

  • how you have used this pattern in your service
  • any feedback you have about its usage, for example accessibility or ideas for improvement

Add these comments to the 'Hub pages' discussion on GitHub.