NHS doctors get AI assistant to listen to appointments and make notes

Technology that frees up time for more patient care and focus described as a ‘game changer’ and could be expanded across the country

NHS doctors have been given an AI assistant that frees up their time with patients by making notes during appointments.
The technology enables medics to listen to patients instead of typing up documents and letters, which the AI does for them instead.
The generative AI tech is being trialled across London, led by Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), with possible expansion to other regions.
Funded by NHS Frontline Digitisation, the trial will include about 5,000 patient assessments in hospitals, GP surgeries, A&E departments and mental health services.
The AI, called Tortus, uses ambient voice technology (a combination of speech recognition and artificial intelligence) to pick up relevant medical information from a conversation while filtering out background noise and irrelevant chat.
It aims to cut down the amount of time medics spend on administrative tasks by drafting notes, follow-up letters and suggesting clinical codes, which are then checked by the doctor.
Dr Maaike Kusters, the GOSH paediatric immunology consultant, said the technology was a “massive game changer in how I do my consultations”.
She added: “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.
“However, often this means I am typing rather than looking directly at my patient and their family.
“Using the AI tool means I can sit closer to them face-to-face and really focus on what they were sharing with me, without compromising on the quality of documentation.”
During an earlier phase of the trial, actors pretended to be patients and tried to trick the technology by talking about X-Men characters, giving incorrect information, using different accents and using loud background noise.
Despite this, Tortus was able to correctly understand the medical information included in the conversation and draft clear, clinical letters.
Doctors at GOSH say the tool increases efficiency in clinics, reduces the time spent on admin and offers a better all-round experience for themselves and patients.
Before agreeing to the trial, GOSH said it completed detailed and thorough safety checks to ensure the technology was secure. It said all data is deleted after the documents are generated at the end of the consultation, with no long-term storage.
Anna Peck and Bea, her 17-year-old daughter, are taking part in the trial at GOSH.
Mrs Peck said: “It was great to see the tool in practice – during our consultation with Dr Kusters we were able to ask all our questions without any interruption thanks to the tool picking up our discussion.
“We’ve always had a great relationship with our clinicians, but this time we felt like full focus was on us. It was really positive.
“Due to Bea’s medical needs, we attend many appointments at different hospitals and can see this making a difference.”
Martin Machray, the NHS England director for improvement, transformation and partnerships in London, said: “Ambient voice technology is a great example of how AI could be used to support clinicians and improve patient care, so it’s fantastic to see this being evaluated in different NHS settings across London.
“Technology is already transforming the way we work in the NHS in London, and we will continue to embrace the latest innovations to deliver the best possible care for patients, moving towards a digitally enabled healthcare system for the city.”
According to Tortus, the AI revolutionises “medical documentation in the safest manner … we don’t train from the data and your clinical documentation is secure.
“Our goal is only to ensure high-quality notes, produced quickly to save you time.”
Hafsa Ahmedi, the product manager at Tortus, said the tech is clinician-led and the whole company was founded to “tackle the issue of doctors having too much burnout and admin”.
She said the “vision is to have AI for every clinician to support them in all of the tasks outside of the actual doctoring – so admin, taking notes and all the follow-up.”
And Ms Ahmedi added: “We know the importance of good clinical documentation, so we’ve built in so many safeguards to not interpret what is being said.
“It won’t assume something. That really is the doctor’s role, and we never want to change that.”