The National Health Service (NHS) in the UK is set to benefit from AI tools designed to streamline administrative tasks and enhance patient care.
Interim study data indicate that these technologies can reduce administrative burdens, shorten appointment times, and allow clinicians to focus more on patients, especially in accident and emergency (A&E) departments.
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The UK Government’s Plan for Change aims to revitalise the NHS and reduce waiting lists.
Newly published guidance encourages the adoption of AI products, which utilise generative AI and speech technologies.
These tools are capable of converting spoken words into organised medical notes and letters in various primary and secondary care environments, such as hospitals and general practitioner offices.
Ambient voice technologies (AVTs), one such tool, can transcribe patient-clinician conversations, draft medical notes, and patient letters.
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By GlobalDataThe guidance emphasises data compliance, security and the need for thorough staff training in using these technologies.
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said: “This government made the difficult but necessary decision at the Budget to put a record £26bn ($34.58bn) into our NHS and social care, including cash to roll out more pioneering tech.”
NHS England has funded an AVT project across London, led by Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, assessing AVT use in various clinical settings.
At Great Ormond Street, AVTs have been used to draft notes and letters, which are then reviewed and approved by clinicians before being added to the health record system and shared with patients and their families.
The current practice requires clinicians to spend time during consultations inputting data into computers, which detracts from patient interaction.
Post-consultation, they must summarise this information into documents like referral letters.
The government is focused on modernising these processes, with AI technology automating documentation.
The Jean Bishop Integrated Care Centre in East Hull, a component of the City Health Care Partnership, has implemented an ambient scribing product.
Furthermore, the government is leveraging AI to accelerate diagnosis and treatment for various health conditions, such as assessing pain levels in non-verbal patients, expediting breast cancer diagnosis, and facilitating quicker hospital discharges.
Before this development, the government expanded the Advice and Guidance scheme, which aims to reduce the need to join the NHS waiting lists.
