Staying up-to-date with the latest app regulations and standards is essential for app developers.

If your app provides a health or social care service, as defined by the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) ‘regulated activities’, it must be registered with the CQC. The CQC is the independent regulator of health and social care in England, and requires ‘any person (individual, partnership or organisation) who provides regulated activity in England [to] be registered […] otherwise they commit an offence.’

‘Regulated activities’ (as listed in Schedule 1 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014) require registration by law and may apply to health and care app developers. Such activities include, but are not limited to, those concerning:

• Personal care
• Treatment of disease, disorder or injury
• Assessment or medical treatment for persons detained under the Mental Health Act 1983
• Diagnostic and screening procedures
• Transport services, triage and medical advice provided remotely
• Maternity and midwifery services
• Family planning services

CQC compliance ensures that health apps are high-quality, safe and effective for consumers, patients and healthcare professionals.

Read the CQC’s Scope of Registration here for more information.

This short guide of top tips from ORCHA helps to identify some of the key areas to consider when developing or looking to improve apps, helping you navigate your way to making your app one of the best on the market.

We are delighted to announce that ORCHA’s platforms and services have now been approved on the Government’s Digital Marketplace G-Cloud 11 framework. As a supplier on the Digital Marketplace, ORCHA’s services can be purchased by any central government, local council, NHS Trust or public sector body. Our solutions allow public sector organisations and healthcare professionals to safely unlock the potential of digital health apps.

ORCHA’s services that are available for purchase on the G-Cloud 11 Digital Marketplace include:

• Local engagement microsites, including tailorable app libraries – In order to drive digital health uptake for populations, ORCHA’s service provides locally branded and tailored microsites. Each microsite features a library of apps that have been evaluated in accordance with ORCHA’s robust Review process, thereby ensuring transparency in terms of data privacy, clinical assurance and user experience. This helps public sector organisations to overcome health challenges in their region by increasing mHealth activation within populations.
• Professional app recommendation and prescription – ORCHA’s Pro Account service enables clinicians and other healthcare professionals to embrace digital health and increase patient activation. With our Pro Account prescription tool, health and care professionals can find and recommend to patients the safest and most clinically effective health apps to suit individual requirements. As such, ORCHA facilitates the implementation of health and care apps into everyday practice and primary care pathways.

Please find ORCHA on G-Cloud 11 by clicking here, where you can read the full details about the platforms and services we offer as part of our advanced digital health review and accreditation solution.