All patients registered with a London GP practice can now securely start their own Universal Care Plan (UCP) through the NHS App, powered by Better and in partnership with OneLondon.
This latest integration, which went live on 13 May 2026, gives millions of Londoners direct control of their health and care wishes and preferences for the first time, significantly improving patient choice and accelerating personalised care across all of London.
Patients can now share a more holistic picture of who they are, so their care can be tailored according to their wishes, day-to-day life, support needs and important details that matter to them most. There are also additional clinical sections, so patients can see what clinical users are writing about their medical health, improving transparency. As a result, patients will feel more involved in their care, listened to and cared for in the best way possible.
Now, patients won’t have to repeat their story multiple times. From primary care and emergency care to social care settings, their UCP can be thoughtfully considered by different health and care professionals via their electronic records system, the London Care Record and nationally via the National Record Locator. This empowers the patient voice, allowing them to express their needs in their own words at any point during their care.
By empowering patients to update their non-clinical information, the UCP reduces administrative responsibilities for health and care professionals and supports better coordination across services. This helps free up NHS resources, reduce unnecessary hospital admissions, create capacity for elective procedures, while supporting the ambitions of the 10 Year Health Plan for more personalised care and patient choice.
Another key benefit is that the UCP is fully compliant with the NHS App design system, providing a seamless user journey for patients. It is also fully accessible, so it is compatible with screen readers and keyboard navigation.
An implementation plan is now underway, with an early adopter network of 14 GP practices working directly with patients to encourage uptake. Some practices are supporting uptake through social prescribing, while others are inviting older patients living with moderate frailty into the practice to complete their plans.
The UCP has become a well-established tool, with over 97,000 live care plans and 30,000 views a month. It has already made a difference in supporting end-of-life care and palliative care for patients, with 70% of end-of-life patients achieving their preferred place of death, compared to the national average of 50-55%. In addition, unplanned hospital admissions are reduced to 30%, significantly lower than the national average of 46%. The UCP has also expanded to help patients living with sickle cell disease, learning disabilities, dementia and frailty.
Looking ahead, Better and OneLondon plan to introduce proxy access for linked users, such as parents and carers. They also plan to integrate the UCP with NHS Notify and develop enhancements, including mental health crisis management, catheter care and complex geriatric assessments.
Londoners have been able to view their UCP via the NHS App and login service since January 2024.
Tomas Ince, Senior Clinical Transformation Manager at OneLondon, said: "It’s a huge milestone that every person registered with a London GP practice now has the opportunity to create and edit a care plan. The Universal Care Plan has been co-designed with patients and clinicians, capturing important information that matters most, often including very complex personal needs. It opens up that more in-depth personalised picture of a patient, beyond just a list of diagnoses."
Ian Bennett, Senior Product Specialist at Better, said: "Enabling patients to directly write their own Universal Care Plans in the NHS App accelerates the path towards a more personalised health and care system. The Universal Care Plan is about ensuring that patients’ wishes and preferences are accessible to the right clinicians at the right time. We're proud to have delivered a solution that gives patients agency and a voice across all of London."
