Patients across Scotland are being promised ‘greater choice and control’ over their care with the launch of a new national app for healthcare.
MyCare is now available for download on smartphones, giving patients access to their medical information for the first time online.
People can download the app via Apple’s App Store or Google Play in a ‘significant step’ towards improving the experience for people interacting with the NHS and social care.
In the first version of the free app, people will be able to view their medications and allergies, check their vaccination history and use the national service finder to find local health and wellbeing services.
It follows the successful roll-out of a web-based service that began in NHS Lanarkshire in December 2025 and began roll-out nationally in April.
The app will continue to develop through to 2030, to enable users to check appointments, provide information about themselves and receive digital letters through MyCare.scot. When fully delivered, it will provide the most comprehensive health and care app in the UK, integrating health and social care services into one space.
The long-term delivery of MyCare.scot will also support the government’s ambitions to deliver a new NHS national booking system within the current parliamentary term.
Health secretary Angela Constance said: “The availability of MyCare.scot on the app store is an important milestone in this government’s programme to give people a single, secure digital access point to their personal health information.
“I am clear that our NHS in Scotland will never be for sale. That is why the app has been developed within the public sector, protecting the privacy of patient medical records and ensuring best value for the taxpayer.
“Over time, MyCare.scot will make it easier to manage appointments, reduce the need for patients to retell their story, order prescriptions, and gain access to the information they need to help them stay well and supported. It will also be integrated with Scotland’s social care and social work system.”
Karen Reid, chief executive of Public Services Delivery Scotland, said: “MyCare.scot is about beginning to make it simpler for people in Scotland to access their own health and social care information, in a way that is secure and easy to use. The new mobile app is an important step forward, helping people find what they need quickly, to inform their care.
“Public Services Delivery Scotland is leading this work to bring information together in one place and create a more joined-up, consistent experience. We will continue to improve MyCare.scot based on what people tell us they need.”
Councillor Paul Kelly, health and social care spokesperson for COSLA, the umbrella body for local councils in Scotland, said: “The launch of the MyCare.scot mobile app is a significant step forward in our shared ambition with the Scottish Government to improve outcomes across health, social work and social care. Crucially, this is just the beginning.
“Work is already ongoing to expand MyCare.scot into social work and social care, advancing our vision of truly integrated, person-centred services. This will give people across Scotland greater choice and control over their care, helping to build a more sustainable system fit for the digital age.”
MyCare.scot requires users to securely verify their identity through the Scottish Government’s ScotAccount system, reflecting its core commitment to protecting personal information. The service applies the same safeguards used across health and social care services in Scotland.
Appointment viewing, management and booking functionality will be introduced ‘progressively in partnership with NHS Boards’, covering both primary and secondary care appointment types ‘as development and integration work is completed’.
