{"id":213414,"date":"2025-10-20T15:31:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T15:31:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/213414\/"},"modified":"2025-10-20T15:31:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T15:31:09","slug":"mother-29-was-diagnosed-with-a-life-changing-kidney-condition-through-the-nhs-app","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/213414\/","title":{"rendered":"Mother, 29, was diagnosed with a life-changing kidney condition through the NHS app"},"content":{"rendered":"

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When Lucy Bradley logged on to her NHS app <\/a>to find out the results of her latest blood test, she didn\u2019t expect to learn that she was suffering from a life-changing kidney condition. <\/p>\n

The 29-year-old was alone at her home in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, when she read on the app that she had stage 3 kidney disease <\/a>\u2013 a condition she didn\u2019t even know she was being tested for. <\/p>\n

Ms Bradley, who had recently had a baby, had gone for blood checks after feeling tired and unwell. When she was found to be anaemic, her GP told her she would need a repeat test to double-check her kidney function. It was only when she went to check the result that she saw the diagnosis.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt made my heart sink,\u201d she told The Independent. \u201cIt shouldn\u2019t just flash up on the app. <\/a>No one should be directed to the app for things like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cIn this modern society, we\u2019re dealing more with automated messages, but when you\u2019re dealing with something so personal, it really did feel dehumanising.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stage 3 kidney disease<\/a> means a patient has a mild to moderate loss of kidney function, with an increased risk of heart disease. But with no information about what the diagnosis meant, Ms Bradley was left in limbo for a week until she could speak to a medical professional. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the fear of the unknown,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m finding out about a condition I didn\u2019t even know existed. There were no channels or anyone to go to at the time.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Health<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Health secretary Wes Streeting has set out plans to expand the NHS app (PA)<\/p>\n

Ms Bradley arranged a face-to-face appointment with her GP, who she said initially told her it was \u201cnothing to worry about\u201d. Still concerned, she pushed for another appointment and was referred to a specialist kidney service. <\/p>\n

Ms Bradley eventually turned to the charity Kidney Care UK to get some answers. <\/p>\n

In June, the charity wrote a letter to NHS<\/a> England, raising \u201cspecific concerns\u201d about patients who were learning of their chronic kidney disease diagnosis through the NHS app \u201cwithout any accompanying information, context or opportunity to discuss their condition with a health care professional\u201d.<\/p>\n

It came after health secretary Wes Streeting set out plans for an expansion<\/a> of the NHS app in the government\u2019s 10-year plan, saying it would \u201cbecome a doctor in your pocket, bringing our health service into the 21st century\u201d.<\/p>\n

The charity said in its letter: \u201cWhilst digital communication has a valuable role to play for many, ongoing consideration of where face-to-face contact with healthcare professionals is preferred by some patients is needed.\u201d <\/p>\n

Fiona Loud, chief executive of Kidney Care UK, told The Independent that the charity\u2019s helpline was receiving frequent calls, almost daily, from patients who had received news of chronic kidney disease through the NHS app, with no further information. <\/p>\n

She warned: \u201cThere\u2019s the mental health impact of finding you\u2019ve got a diagnosis, then there\u2019s the other side: if you\u2019re told you\u2019ve got this thing, and [go to] look it up, all you might see is the scary aspect of it. What you don\u2019t know is what that means to you. <\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

The Department of Health says it is committed to ensuring that patients receive diagnoses \u2018in an appropriate manner with proper support and information\u2019 (Getty\/iStock)<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don\u2019t have that personalisation, if you don\u2019t have that contact, if you don\u2019t have the follow-up, you turn to charities. It\u2019s that theme of people finding out without the context, which is particularly disturbing, and not what the NHS app is meant to do.\u201d <\/p>\n

She added: \u201cNo one should be receiving a text saying you\u2019ve got this potentially life-altering condition, and nothing else about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

One patient who recently called the Kidney Care UK helpline said: \u201cI received my diagnosis through text. There\u2019s no follow-up appointment. I was shocked and annoyed. I felt abandoned by the system, regarding proper consultation and advice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another charity, Cardiomyopathy UK, told The Independent that patients had sought help after finding they had been diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, a disease of the heart muscle, through the NHS digital system. <\/p>\n

One specialist nurse from the charity said: \u201cWe frequently receive calls from anxious patients who don\u2019t understand what they\u2019ve read and are seeking answers. Results and diagnoses need to be given in context, and by a professional who can answer all their questions at the time. Patients often want to know about prognosis, which is very individualised. <\/p>\n

\u201cApps certainly have an important place in current and future healthcare. But we need to be extremely careful about the information people can access, because without proper explanation, we\u2019re leaving patients in distress with no support whilst they wait for their appointment.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Charities<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Charities have called for there to be more care over the information patients receive via the NHS app (AFP\/Getty)<\/p>\n

Professor Kamila Hawthorne, chair of the Royal College of GPs,\u202f said best practice is for serious or concerning news to be delivered in a considerate and sensitive manner \u2013 where possible, in person.<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cThe NHS app can be a useful tool. But it isn\u2019t an appropriate channel for patients to receive serious or concerning news about their health, particularly if they need reassurance or advice on aftercare and next steps.\u201d <\/p>\n

In response to questions from The Independent, the Department of Health<\/a> and Social Care said patients should not be receiving serious diagnoses through the app or by text message.<\/p>\n

Their spokesperson said: \u201cPatient wellbeing and clear communication are fundamental to NHS care, and NHS guidelines are clear that patients shouldn\u2019t be receiving serious diagnoses through digital channels without adequate support or context.\u201d<\/p>\n

They said the department is committed to ensuring that all patients receive diagnoses \u201cin an appropriate manner with proper support and information\u201d.<\/p>\n

They added: \u201cThis government remains determined to ensure that, as we modernise the NHS through digital innovation, we maintain the compassionate, supportive care that patients expect and deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":213415,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[102,2960,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-213414","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-healthcare","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=213414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/213415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}