The NHS’s largest rollout of artificial intelligence voice transcription software is helping to reduce waiting times and improve patient care, according to doctors using the technology across the West Midlands.
Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust is among 15 NHS trusts that have jointly introduced an AI-powered transcription tool called Heidi, which is now being used in urgent care departments, outpatient clinics and GP practices.
The mobile application uses artificial intelligence to listen to conversations between clinicians and patients, automatically generating medical notes and clinical letters, allowing healthcare professionals to spend more time delivering patient care instead of completing administrative tasks.
Dr Mohammed Jamil Aslam, an emergency medicine consultant at Walsall Manor Hospital, said the software, which supports 110 languages, saves around six minutes during every patient consultation.
According to Dr Aslam, the time saved through AI transcription enables doctors to diagnose and treat more patients while improving the overall consultation experience by allowing clinicians to focus entirely on the patient rather than typing notes.
He added that patients feel more engaged during appointments because doctors are able to actively listen, maintain eye contact and concentrate fully on their care throughout the consultation.
The technology has also delivered significant operational improvements elsewhere in the region, with one clinic in Dudley reducing its backlog of patient letters from six months to just 14 days after introducing Heidi.
Ravinder Sahota, Group Chief Information Officer at The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust and Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, said the AI-powered transcription tool is also helping to improve communication and break down language barriers across NHS services.
She said: “This is really key for us because a lot our patients who come, English is not their first language.
“We get feedback that some of the letters we send out is too complex for them to understand as got a lot of medical terminology and we’re really excited about the fact we’ll be able to break down the barriers to communication with this software.”
