NHS clinicians will be supported in using innovative artificial intelligence (AI) tools, designed to reduce bureaucracy, assist with note-taking, and free up staff time, enabling them to deliver better care to patients, following the publication of new government guidance.
Interim trial data shows that the AI technology has dramatically reduced admin, and meant more people could be seen in A&E, clinicians could spend more time during an appointment focusing on the patient, and appointments were shorter.
The new guidance will encourage the use of these products – which use speech technologies and generative AI to convert spoken words into structured medical notes and letters – across a range of primary and secondary care settings, including hospitals and GP surgeries.
One of the tools – ambient voice technologies (AVTs) – can transcribe patient-clinician conversations, create structured medical notes, and draft patient letters.
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said: “AI is the catalyst that will revolutionise healthcare and drive efficiencies across the NHS, as we deliver our Plan for Change and shift care from analogue to digital.
“I am determined we embrace this kind of technology, so clinicians don’t have to spend so much time pushing pens and can focus on their patients.
“This government made the difficult but necessary decision at the Budget to put a record £26 billion into our NHS and social care including cash to roll out more pioneering tech.
The NHS England funded, London-wide AVT work, led by Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, has evaluated AVT capabilities across a range of clinical settings – Adult Outpatients, Primary Care, Paediatrics, Mental Health, Community care, A+E and across London Ambulance Service.
This multi-site evaluation involving over 7000 patients has demonstrated widespread benefits.
Interim data shows:
- Increase in direct care – clinicians spending more time spent with patients rather than typing on a computer
- Increase in productivity in A&E – the technology has supported more patients to be seen in emergency departments by carrying out admin for A&E staff
At GOSH, AVTs have listened to consultations and drafted clinic notes and letters.
These were then edited and authorised by the clinician before being uploaded to the secure electronic health record system and sent on to patients and their families.
Clinicians agreed the AI helped them offer more attention to their patients without affecting the quality of the clinic note or letter.
Dr Maaike Kusters, Paediatric Immunology Consultant at GOSH, said: “The patients I see in my clinics have very complex medical conditions and it’s so important to make sure I capture what we discuss in our appointments accurately, but often this means I am typing rather than looking directly at my patient and their family.
“Using the AI tool during the trial meant I could sit closer to them face-to-face and really focus on what they were sharing with me, without compromising on the quality of documentation.”
As it stands, clinicians in hospitals and GP surgeries are forced to spend much of their consultations recording information into a computer instead of focusing on the patient in front of them.
Once the patient has left, they are often required to take that information and summarise it in documents like referral letters.
The government aims to reform these outdated ways of working and revolutionise care, and this innovative tech will do that work for them, so they can see their next patient.
The Jean Bishop Integrated Care Centre in East Hull (part of City Health Care Partnership) has introduced an ambient scribing product to make their documentation process faster and better support their work to care for people living with frailty.
By converting a conversation with a patient into a clinical note, the ambient scribing product is freeing up time for a range of staff including GPs, consultants, nurses and physiotherapists.
