AI note-taking tool helps speed up autism and ADHD assessments

An NHS provider of ADHD and autism assessments found that an AI tool which records and summarises appointments can reduce admin time for clinicians. 

There were 236,225 people waiting for an autism assessment in England in June 2025 and around 549,000 people waiting for an ADHD assessment in May 2025, according to NHS data.

Your Healthcare CIC, a community interest company delivering health and social care services in Kingston upon Thames and Richmond upon Thames, conducted an eight-week trial of AI note-taking tool Magic Notes supplied by social enterprise Beam.

Among the pilot group of clinicians, the most significant time savings were observed in the drafting of autism and ADHD reports, with a potential 63% reduction in time spent writing assessments.

Dr Karen Long, consultant clinical psychologist and frontline service lead at Your Healthcare, said: “Since rolling out Magic Notes, we’ve seen a huge improvement in the quality of case notes, along with the consistency of documentation and reports.

“It’s also allowed our clinicians to conduct more assessments and spend more time with service users, as their admin has been significantly reduced.

“It’s encouraging to see that 86% of our staff want to continue using Magic Notes after the pilot, which illustrates the difference it’s making to their practice.”

Clinicians reported a 62% improvement in the quality and level of detail of written records, which the software can combine with existing documents, audio, video, and handwritten notes to generate custom reports.

When asked to rate the quality of conversation with service users out of 10, clinicians reported that using the AI tool improved conversation quality by 44%, with many feeling more able to focus without the distraction of notetaking.

This is particularly important for autism and ADHD assessments, where clinicians need to assess non-verbal cues, ask questions, and make a professional diagnosis or judgement.

Dr Jo Dunn, principal clinical psychologist at Your Healthcare, said: “Magic Notes has saved me a lot of time and means the detail of the assessment and meeting is easy and quick to capture.

“The time saved means I’ve had to work much less outside my usual work hours which has obviously been good for work-life balance. The process around taking notes and writing reports is just a lot less onerous.”

The Magic Notes pilot took place between April and June 2025, involving 28 clinicians across the neurodevelopmental and school health teams at Your Healthcare.

Rachel Astall, chief customer officer at Beam, said: “Healthcare professionals play such a vital role in the community, but their jobs are being taken over by enormous amounts of admin.

“We’re building tech tools that allow them to spend more time with service users, less time on admin and achieve better work-life balance – making it a much more enjoyable career.

“As the first healthcare provider to pilot Magic Notes, Your Healthcare is paving the way for greater innovation within the sector.”

Results of a London-wide trial of AI-scribe technology, led by Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, found ‘transformative’ benefits for NHS patients and clinicians, but the technology’s adoption has been held back by regulatory uncertainty.