Commentary: NHS's new online hospital service

“The NHS’s new online hospital service has real potential to transform access to care, but it needs to be designed around patients’ needs for rapport, meaning communication that feels respectful, empathetic and trustworthy.

"In our work on an NHS chatbot for cervical screening, we have seen that patients can feel pressured or lose trust if automated messages come across as too forceful. This is particularly problematic in sensitive areas of health, such as cancer care. Because different cultural groups perceive fairness and empathy differently, a one-size-fits-all approach won’t work. 

"To truly modernise the NHS, the online hospital and the booking systems associated with it must build in cultural sensitivity and linguistic adaptability to avoid the risk of widening inequalities in access to health services.”