Earlier this year, we took an important step towards more personalised care by enabling people to create and update parts of their own Universal Care Plan (UCP) through the NHS App. Tomas Ince, Senior UCP Transformation Manager, reflects on what we learned and what comes next (28 September 2026).

Putting patients at the heart of care

More than 100,000 people living or receiving care in London now have a Universal Care Plan (UCP), helping health and care professionals understand an individual’s wishes, preferences and care needs wherever they access services.

This year, we strengthened that approach by giving patients the ability to contribute directly to their own care plan through the NHS App and web login service. People can now share information in their own words about what matters most to them, including their goals, priorities and preferences.

The aim is simple – to support shared decision-making, improve transparency and make care planning a genuine partnership between patients, carers and professionals.

A promising start

Between May and August 2026, 24 London GP practices took part in an early adopter initiative  supported by learning sessions, implementation support and patient engagement resources.

The results were encouraging:

• More than 8,000 care plans were created during the pilot.
• 1,263 care plans included information submitted directly by patients, representing 10% of all care plans created during this period.
• Practices that actively promoted the service and involved social prescribing teams saw the highest levels of engagement.

The initiative  demonstrated that the UCP, combined with local clinical leadership, can help more people play an active role in planning their care.

What did we learn?

A comprehensive evaluation explored whether Patient Editable Access is safe, practical and valuable for patients and clinicians.

Key findings included:

• Strong patient uptake across participating practices.
• Patients who completed one section were often willing to complete more.
• There is an opportunity to improve the user journey, as many people created a care plan but did not go on to submit information.
• Further work is needed to understand barriers to participation and address digital inclusion challenges.

The initiative also provided early evidence of clinical engagement. Around one third of patient-submitted plans were viewed by healthcare professionals, demonstrating that patient-generated information is being used within care planning.

Importantly, the initiative confirmed that the approach can be implemented safely, with no reported clinical incidents, near misses or patient safety concerns.

What contributed to success?

Several factors helped drive engagement:

• Targeting appropriate patient groups.
• Involving social prescribing teams.
• Promoting the service through the NHS App.
• Support from voluntary and community organisations.
• Strong local leadership.

The evaluation also highlighted opportunities for improvement, including better workflow integration for clinicians, addressing digital inclusion barriers and strengthening implementation support.

Building on success

Initial adoption has provided invaluable learning and demonstrated the significant potential of Patient Editable Access.

Building on the findings, we will now extend the initial phase for a further three months allowing us to deepen our understanding of how the service can best support patients and clinicians. We will build on the success of the most engaged early adopter sites while increasing the range and number of organisations involved, helping us test the approach across a broader range of settings.

During this next phase, we will also focus on how the patient journey can be improved, making it easier for people to get started and complete care plan forms and gather further feedback from both patients and clinicians.

We will also look to develop a practical implementation toolkit to support future rollout, expand community support through NHS App ambassadors and voluntary sector partners, and continue to closely monitor safety, clinical impact and user experience.

Looking ahead

A huge thank you goes to everyone involved in this work , including GP practices, clinical colleagues, social prescribing teams, members of our People with Lived Experience Group and, most importantly, the patients who spent time creating care plans and submitting forms.

This is about more than technology. It is about giving people a stronger voice in decisions about their health and care.

By enabling patients to contribute directly to their UCP, we are creating new opportunities for collaboration, supporting more personalised care and helping ensure that care decisions reflect what matters most to each individual.

The UCP in the NHS App has shown that patients want to be involved, that clinicians see value in greater collaboration and that the approach can be delivered safely. We are excited what we can achieve together with this programme over the coming months.

You can find out more about UCP Patient Editable Access here.