NHS App to Use AI to Decide Which Service Suits Patients Best
Key Takeaways:
- New AI triage software on the NHS App will direct patients to the most suitable service, reaching all app users by April 2028.
- An early Sussex trial cut phone queuing for appointments by 29%, part of a £10bn government drive to modernise NHS technology.
- AI note-taking tools will also expand across England, with health bodies urging safeguards on safety, confidentiality and digital inclusion.
A new AI front door to NHS services
NHS England has announced that artificial intelligence software will be used within the NHS App to work out which service is most appropriate for patients in England. The new triage tool asks patients a series of questions and uses their answers to direct them towards the most suitable option, whether that is a GP appointment, a pharmacy, A&E, a community service, or self-care advice.
The health service has described the change as part of a “major overhaul” of its technology. NHS England said the update would reach more than 200,000 patients over the next 12 months and would be available to all NHS App users by April 2028.
The rollout has been largely welcomed. However, some health bodies have urged the NHS to keep patient safety, confidentiality and inclusion front of mind as clinical services grow more reliant on AI.
How the triage tool will work
According to NHS England, the tool will offer advice, suggest services and book appointments. One of its central aims is to reduce the time people spend waiting on the phone – a familiar pressure point when GP surgeries typically open their phone lines at 08:00.
Early trial results and the clinician’s view
An initial trial at Wealden Ridge Medical Partnership in Sussex saw a 29% reduction in the number of people queuing on the phone for an appointment.
Dr Ragu Rajan, who works at the practice, said that integrating the tool “means our patients can tell us what they need, when they need it, and be directed to the right care first time.”
He added that the technology had supported rather than supplanted clinical judgement: “It hasn’t replaced our judgement – it’s given us back the time to use it.”
Ministerial backing and investment
Health Secretary James Murray sought to reassure the public that the rollout did not mean an AI programme would ultimately decide whether patients saw a doctor. Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, he said the change meant investment would be put in to “modernise” the NHS and to ensure the benefits were spread “around the country”.
The initiative forms part of a £10bn investment, allocated by the government in 2025, to overhaul the NHS’s technology, digital and data systems.
Sir Jim Mackey, chief executive of NHS England, said the tool would “help get patients to the best service for their needs first time… so that clinicians can make sure those most in need of a GP appointment can get one sooner”.
AI note-taking to expand across England
Alongside the triage tool, there will be an England-wide rollout of AI tools that record conversations between patients and NHS staff in order to generate real-time transcriptions and clinical summaries.
The expansion will begin with hospital appointments that do not require an overnight stay at four NHS trusts in and around London: St George’s, Epsom and St Helier, Croydon, and Kingston and Richmond.
Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust in Liverpool and Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust are also expanding their existing AI note-taking programmes.
A trial led by Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, carried out across nine NHS sites in London, found that NHS staff spent almost 25% more of their time interacting with patients when using the note-taking technology.
Welcome tempered by calls for safeguards
The Royal College of Nursing’s chief nursing officer, Prof Lynn Woolsey, said the rollout could mark “an important step in upgrading technology in the NHS” and could “ease the administrative burden on nursing staff”. She stressed, however, that patient safety and confidentiality must be at the “heart of any AI triage system, with a guarantee that a health professional will be the one making decisions at key points in that process”.
Pritesh Mistry, a fellow at the King’s Fund think-tank, said the announcement “could help turbo-charge improvements in how [the] NHS uses modern technology to deliver better care for patients”.
“People should find it easier to have support at the right time and in a way that best suits them, digitally or physically,” she added. “And this means the NHS will need to keep a strong focus on ensuring that people are not digitally excluded as clinical services become increasingly reliant on technology.”
Political response
Conservative shadow health secretary Stuart Andrew said: “Any innovation that improves patient care and helps the NHS work more effectively should be welcomed.
“But new technology must be introduced with a fully-funded plan that delivers value for taxpayers.”
Source: BBC News
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