NHSE reveals NHS App self-test specialties

NHS England plans to centralise at-home diagnostics for seven specialties through the NHS App, commercial documents reveal.

Market engagement documents released last week said NHS England wants to replace the fragmented and inconsistent infrastructure with “a single, trusted national home-testing capability”.

The new service plans to fill “a recognised gap” in home-testing infrastructure, of “fragmented commissioning arrangements, inconsistent user journeys, and lack of interoperability between local providers and national digital platforms”.

The HomeTest programme will focus initially on patient self-sampling in seven areas, the market engagement notice said:

• Sexual health testing for HIV and Hepatitis C.
• Gastroenterology tests for faecal calprotectin, coeliac, ferritin, and urea and electrolytes.
• Total prostate specific antigen testing.
• Several gynaecology tests, including follicle-stimulating hormone and human papillomavirus.
• MRSA, specifically in relation to orthopaedic services.
• Several rheumatology tests, including full blood counts and liver function tests.
• Primary care tests, including cholesterol levels.

The HomeTest service wants to enable people to order, complete and receive results from diagnostic tests from home through the NHS App.

NHSE “has an aspiration” for a basic version of the programme to be available from April 2027, though it added, “this timescale is indicative and is subject to change”.

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: HSJ, 21 April 2026