A digital tool to help patients reschedule medical appointments will be trialled in more hospitals across the country.

The online portal, DrDoctor, is already used in 10 hospitals and will soon be trialled in 11 more, NHS England said.

The tool allows patients to book and change medical appointments online, receive text reminders and access maps showing them where in a hospital they need to go.

It is hoped it will save the NHS tens of millions of pounds by slashing the number of missed appointments, as well as making it easier for patients to manage bookings.

NHS England said hospitals using the tool are saving up to £2 million a year each by cutting missed appointments, are seeing the number of appointments where patients do not turn up falling by almost a third, and are cutting their postage costs by more than a quarter.

The tool will be trialled at NHS sites specially selected to test the impact of DrDoctor across a variety of hospitals, from small specialist sites to large inner city hospitals, with plans for the pilot to be in place by March.

Dr Simon Eccles, chief clinical information officer for Health and Care, said: “This technology has the potential to be a triple win for the NHS by making life easier for patients, saving money and improving appointment efficiency.”

Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said: “A HealthTech revolution is coming to the NHS. This is a great example of how technology can make life easier for patients and NHS staff, helping more people to access health services from home and ensuring every pound goes further.

“I want the UK to have the most advanced healthcare system as the world – and so we intend to transform the NHS into an ecosystem for enterprise which simultaneously brings pioneering treatments to patients and allows innovators to thrive.”