Young people from across Central Bedfordshire have called on NHS leaders to make healthcare more engaging and preventative, starting with a redesign of the NHS App.
Speaking at the Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board (BLMK ICB) meeting last week (21 March), members of the Central Bedfordshire Youth Parliament shared feedback gathered from January’s System Insight Network event.
Delegates were asked to look at the Government’s “Change the NHS” consultation.
Harry White, from Bedford Modern School, added that technology like AI has an important role to play. “AI is the future of health care and it would be great to see how this is being applied,” he said.
“Young people have a voice, and we’d be keen to work with health and care professionals to make sure young people’s voices are considered when applying AI to enhance online diagnosis and support early disease prevention.”
Meanwhile, Adrian Szyja from Vandyke Upper School in Leighton Buzzard told health leaders that the NHS App must do more to connect with young users.
“The NHS App needs to innovate to prevent it from being just another parent app,” he said. “To engage young people and prevent illness, we need gamification tools to be added—to make it fun to manage your health.”
The young speakers also highlighted the need for more health education in schools and wider engagement with children and teenagers in healthcare decisions.
“It’s important that the views of Youth Parliament members are heard,” said Olivia Morris from Sandy Secondary School. “But it’s never been more important to extend that engagement and hear the voices of more and more young people in decision making.”
Felicity Cox, Chief Executive of BLMK ICB, praised the Youth Parliament’s contribution and said their insights would help shape future decisions.
Milton Keynes Hospital CEO Joe Harrison, who also leads on the NHS App nationally, confirmed he would take their ideas to central government as part of the ongoing NHS 10-year plan.
