Sci-Tech Daresbury-based ORCHA – the Organisation for the Review of Care and Health Apps – has revealed its analysis of healthcare apps for a number of NHS trusts.
According to the BBC, ORCHA has reviewed around 5,000 apps which are categorised as health, fitness and medical on app stores, and found that the majority do not meet NHS standards, with concerns mainly arising around poor information, lack of security updates and insufficient awareness of regulations.
In fact, 80% are not meeting the correct standards as laid down by the health service, with a total of 370,000 individual health apps available on the market right now.
ORCHA is responsible for the reviewing and recommending of healthcare applications for a selection of NHS trusts, and determines whether technology should be recommended by NHS staff.
They said that regulation is where many applications fail testing, especially since there are a wide range of regulators that developers may need to approach if creating an application relating to people’s health or medical care.
Based at Sci-Tech Daresbury, the science and innovation hub, ORCHA works with organisations to empower people to embrace digital health, and sits along other companies on the science campus including Atos IT Services, Factorytalk and Tangent Works.
