A new app designed to inform the public about the latest COVID-19 developments in Scotland has been rolled out across the country.

The app has been developed as part of a collaboration between Scottish digital healthcare service, NHS 24, and mobile app and digital development company xDesign.

NHS 24 provides the latest information and advice, including a coronavirus symptom checker, via its health information site, nhsinform.scot, which has seen record numbers of people visiting its pages.

The new mobile app links directly to the site so that people get the latest information and guidance. NHS 24 can also alert users to the latest information and guidance from NHS Scotland and the Scottish Government.

Louise Bennie, Head of Digital at NHS 24, commented: “While a primary focus with the app was around user experience, given the situation is changing daily it was crucial that we were able to pull content from our NHS Inform website through to the app in real-time.

“Looking ahead, we think there is a long-term role for the app working alongside the website as a general entry point for NHS services.”

xDesign volunteered to help NHS 24, building the app in five days to help to ease the pressure on services while maintaining the same level of quality assured and trusted information.

The app is available on iOS and Android and helps people assess their symptoms and take appropriate action depending on the severity of the symptoms they are displaying.

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xDesign Managing Director Ben Hutton said: “Across the team at xDesign, myself and others have partners and family who work for the NHS and we wanted to do everything we could to help the cause at such a difficult time for so many.

“This was an opportunity to offer practical help at a time of national crisis and involved a supercharged version of our usual discovery, design and development process to get things over the line within a week.

“The NHS 24 team wanted us to work with the content they already had on their NHS inform national health information website, but to make that super accessible to the public via a mobile application.

“In practice, the app means you can get a reliable symptom check and at a time when people are struggling in a sea of information it also contains a comprehensive bank of reliable information.”