NHS backs rollout of integrated AVT as part of £10bn tech funding

NHS England is accelerating the rollout of AI tools across the health service, including integrated ambient voice technology (AVT), as part of a £10bn tech investment over the next three years.

A new AI triage tool in the NHS App to help direct patients to the most appropriate NHS service, alongside wider access to AI notetaking tools for NHS staff, are among the improvements being rolled out across England.

In an initial trial at a GP practice in Sussex, the AI triage tool resulted in a 29% reduction in the number of people queueing on the phone, helping to end the 8am rush while maintaining patient satisfaction levels.

Dr Ragu Rajan from Wealden Ridge Medical Partnership, which ran the initial trial, said: “As a rural practice serving 23,000 patients across four sites, we know how hard it can be for people to reach us.

“Integrating AI triage directly into the NHS App means our patients can tell us what they need, when they need it, and be directed to the right care first time. It hasn’t replaced our judgement – it’s given us back the time to use it.”

The tool will be rolled out to more than 200,000 patients within the next 12 months and be available to all NHS App users by April 2028.

Rob Thompson, chief digital, data and technology officer at NHS England, told Digital Health News that integrated AI platforms, in particular AVT, which listens to consultations and automatically generates clinical notes, will be favoured in NHS guidance over standalone tools.

“What is noticeable for me is that if the AVT, certainly in secondary, care is integrated with the electronic patient record (EPR) well, then it works,” he said.

“What doesn’t work is AVT that isn’t integrated with the EPR. Without being too restrictive, what we’re trying to say as guidance and what we will probably put out as guidance is we want to see good quality AVT integrated with EPRs as the baseline.

“We’re not necessarily being prescriptive about which technology provider does that, but if you want to use a standalone AVT, that’s separate to the EPRs, we’re probably going to say that’s not a good thing, because you still have lots of problems getting the data out natively from the AVT into the EPR,” Thompson explained.

Other plans included in the £10bn technology, digital and data investment announced last year include allowing NHS App users to join online appointments with expert clinicians across England using the NHS’s new virtual hospital service – NHS Online.

Patients will also be able to use the NHS App to request follow-up appointments after treatment, and NHS-approved digital tools will help them manage their exercise and rehabilitation for common lung and heart conditions, which NHS England says will give patients greater control over their care.

The NHS will also introduce a Single Patient Record, while more than 500,000 NHS staff are being given access to Microsoft Copilot after a trial found spent an average of two fewer days each month on administrative tasks.

NHS England says the improvements are expected to deliver about half of the commitments in the government’s 10 year health plan and generate £41bn in total benefits over the next decade.

Dr Alec Price-Forbes, national chief clinical information officer at NHS England, told Digital Health News: “We have technology that is increasingly capable of addressing real operational pressures.”

“The task now is to translate that potential into practical, scalable change – implemented safely, measured rigorously and focused relentlessly on outcomes for patients, staff and the wider system.

“The success of the plan will depend on consistency of delivery over the next 10 years and partnership and collaborative system leadership,” he added.

“Digital won’t sit at the edge of NHS transformation, it will be central to how we deliver it, and that’s going to be really important,” Price-Forbes concluded.