An AI assistant which frees up doctors so they can spend more time with their patients is being trialled in the NHS.
The technology enables medics to listen to patients instead of typing up documents and letters – which the AI does for them.
The generative AI tech is being trialled across London, led by Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (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 suggests clinical codes, which are then checked by the doctor.
GOSH paediatric immunology consultant, Dr Maaike Kusters, told the PA news agency the technology was a “massive gamechanger 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.
Ambient voice technology is a great example of how AI could be used to support clinicians and improve patient care
“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 her daughter, Bea, 17, 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 discission.
“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.”
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
Martin Machray, 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, product manager at Tortus, told PA 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 she 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.”
