The tracking feature allows people to check when their medicines are ready to collect or if they have been dispatched by the pharmacy for delivery to someone’s home.

In a statement at the weekend, NHSE said the tracker has been used 715,000 times by 394,000 people since May, or once every nine seconds, with around 4.4 million people viewing their prescription in the app since its launch.

NHSE also said every Boots branch in the country is offering the tracking service although it is unclear how many independent pharmacies are providing it. Independent Community Pharmacist has asked NHSE for more details.

It said the feature will be made available to nearly 5,000 more pharmacies in the next 12 months “covering 60 per cent of those in England”.

“The prescription tracking feature is just one of many planned improvements to the NHS app which will soon expand to offer patients more appointment options and greater choice as part of the Government’s commitment to put patients in control of their healthcare and reduce waiting lists,” NHSE said.