Celebrating 2 years of the NHS Service Catalogue
August 2025 marked the two-year anniversary of the NHS Service Catalogue - a milestone in our journey to make digital health services more accessible, transparent and impactful across the NHS.
Launched in 2023, the Service Catalogue was designed to help NHS teams, developers, and system leaders discover and understand the wide range of digital services available to them. From booking and referral tools to messaging platforms and care records, the catalogue provides essential information on how each service works, who it’s for, what data it uses, and how to access it. It’s a one-stop shop for navigating the digital landscape of NHS England.
The catalogue is more than just a directory - it’s a strategic tool. It supports service owners in marketing their products, drives adoption of underused services, and strengthens connections between developers and product teams.
What’s new?
Since the first listing, we have:
-
Improved search and categorisation – the catalogue features tagging, filtering and in-page search, making it easier to find relevant services quickly
-
Added roadmaps with information about future plans and access instructions, helping users to make informed decisions and take next steps
-
Improved content in response to feedback – we’ve added missing services, updated contacts, and made content more accessible.
What’s working?
The digitisation of bookings is one of the success stories of NHS digital services and we are making it as simple as possible for healthcare settings to find and set up the tools that are modernising and improving patient care.
The most used filter on the catalogue is for “appointments, bookings and referrals” which lists among its service options the Patient Care Aggregator. This tool, also known as Wayfinder, allows people to view their referrals from GP (primary care) to hospital (secondary care) on the NHS App and in some cases amend or cancel bookings.
Giving patients direct access to manage their appointments reduces wasted bookings, saves administration costs and is a major part of the 10 Year Health Plan’s ambitions for the NHS App to be a health system of the future.
What’s next?
User feedback plays a vital role in shaping the Service Catalogue. Recent research with frontline teams revealed both enthusiasm and gaps in awareness. Participants praised the catalogue’s potential but asked for clearer terminology and more intuitive navigation. As a result, our roadmap includes:
-
Improvements to the information architecture – we are reviewing the service page layout and search categories and identifying ways to search services that help users find a solution to their business problem or identify national capabilities that save development by incorporating them into their digital services.
-
Regular updates – keeping service information relevant and up-to-date is vital, so we’re giving more teams the tools and support to make their own changes so that they can effectively market their services and support their users to adopt them.
-
Awareness raising – we’d like the catalogue to be better used and supported by colleagues, which will help to maximise its reach and value to our internal teams and external audiences.
But to truly maximise its benefits, we need your help.
If you’re a service owner or product lead, make sure your service is listed and regularly updated.
If you’re part of a digital team, use the catalogue to highlight how your services support system-wide transformation.
And if you’re a user, explore the catalogue and where you see our pop-up survey, please share your feedback.
Visit the digital service catalogue today.