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The UHL-UHN Group, comprising the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust and University Hospitals of Northamptonshire Group, becomes the first in the country to jointly deliver AI-powered Ambient Voice Technology (AVT)
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Pioneering approach will give more than 10,000 secondary care clinicians access to AVT, supporting more than 2.5m appointments per year
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The organisations have selected Accurx Scribe, powered by Tandem, as the provider, following a competitive evaluation
University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust (UHL) and University Hospitals of Northamptonshire Group (UHN) have become the first in the country to jointly procure AI-powered technology to capture and record clinician-patient consultations.
The UHL-UHN Group has announced Accurx as the provider for the largest rollout of Ambient Voice Technology (AVT) in secondary care.
The technology securely captures consultations and can automatically draft clinical notes, summaries, and letters, which are then reviewed by clinicians to ensure accuracy and completeness before being sent to patients or other healthcare professionals.
The programme will see more than 10,000 clinicians across acute and community hospitals gain access to the technology as part of the Group’s commitment to the use of safe and ethical AI. All voice data is processed securely in accordance with clinical and safety standards, and the pilot is being conducted under robust governance that takes into account NHS England guidance.
UHL Chief Medical Information Officer, Dr Jeremy Tong, said it was an exciting and ground-breaking moment for the NHS: “Ambient Voice Technology will directly benefit patients across Northamptonshire, Leicestershire, Leicester, and Rutland, by enabling clinicians to dedicate more time and energy to caring and communicating, and less to administrative tasks. This transformation is clinically led, digitally enabled and operationally delivered, and that approach has been central to our work throughout.
“Following our successful pilot, clinicians told us AVT enabled them to use their time more effectively to focus on patient care, so they could complete referrals or carry out telephone appointments in the knowledge that information would be sent to patients more quickly. It also gave them more confidence when speaking with a patient, because they knew the AVT was capturing key information.
Group Chief Digital Information Officer for UHL-UHN, Will Monaghan, said: “As members of the Trustworthy and Responsible AI Network (TRAIN), we put a high priority on ensuring the safety of patient data, the accuracy of information recorded, and the importance of human oversight when working with AI systems. The results from the pilot, Accurx’s track record on safety and governance and the strong integration of staff feedback made the case compelling.
“We are excited to be sharing our learnings and leading on the roll out of this cutting-edge technology, which has transformative potential for the way we work. We are also working closely with administrative colleagues to support them during the roll-out, recognising this new technology will change the way we work as an organisation.”
UHL-UHN Group selected Accurx Scribe, powered by Tandem, to provide the AVT solution, following a competitive process. It is estimated that the scribe will be used in 2.5 million outpatient appointments a year across the four-year programme.
Its deployment follows the publication of the three-year operational plan for the NHS, which called for providers to ‘deploy AVT at pace’ ¹ and aligns with the 10 Year Plan’s vision for using the technology to automate clinician note taking and free up time to focus on patient care. ²
A pilot ³, which ran across multiple settings and specialties, found that clinicians reported significant time savings and improvements across multiple stages of care.
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Improved productivity: Clinicians reported saving eight minutes per patient on documentation post-clinic and an average of one hour of admin time per day.
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Improved quality of care: Letters were sent to patients on the same day, down from an average of two to three days pre-Scribe, improving follow-up and continuity of care.
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Reduced staff burden: Clinicians reported spending less time completing notes at home outside of working hours, being more present with patients during consultations, and experiencing a reduced cognitive load when managing increased caseloads.
By freeing up clinical time through automation and embedding data driven innovation into every day practice, the organisations see a broader opportunity to further reduce the elective waiting list and increase appointment capacity.
Dr Satya Raghuvanshi, Vice President of Clinical at Accurx, said:
“Frontline clinicians routinely face hours playing catch up to documentation outside of their shifts. The roll out of Scribe is about addressing that pressure in a meaningful way and giving them precious time back.
“For patients, it delivers something equally important: clear, immediate communication after an appointment. That shift reduces anxiety, prevents delays in care, and ensures continuity from the moment they leave the consultation.
“We are proud to work with teams in Leicester and Northamptonshire, who are leading the way in how ambient voice technology can make a genuine difference to life on the frontline, and the experience for patients.”
With the government and the NHS both looking to unlock the benefits of AI in healthcare, Accurx, supported by its partners at UHL and UHN, has launched The AVT Academy – a new educational hub designed to support Trusts and ICBs looking to implement medical scribing at scale. The teams at UHL and UHN are set to share their learnings in a free webinar, taking place on Friday 24th April, 1-2pm, as part of the initiative. To register and to also gain access to other webinars, playbooks and case studies, all based on real-world learnings, visit https://www.accurx.com/
