TL;DR

The Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital has become the first NHS trust to deploy AI ambient voice technology in patient consultations, completing over 600 sessions since a September pilot. The system saves up to three minutes per consultation and could create 15,000 additional appointments annually once fully rolled out.

What’s Being Tested

Developed by the University of the West of England (UWE) in Bristol, the ambient voice technology (AVT) uses specialist speech-to-text AI to record consultations, automatically generating notes and letters for clinicians to review and approve.

The goal is straightforward: free doctors from typing during appointments so they can focus on patients.

“For me, it’s about the level of stress that I have to experience in terms of all the administration we’ve got — which is huge — and this really reduces it for me,” said Dr John McCormick, chief clinical information officer at NHS England South West and a GP in Devon.

How It Works in Practice

Scientists evaluating the system found it saves up to three minutes per 10-minute GP consultation. Doctors retain a duty to read and correct the final report, providing a human safeguard.

UWE’s Health Tech Hub is testing different AI audio models, including how they handle regional accents. Professor Richard Luxton said while “really broad” accents can be challenging, the system can be trained to understand different voices.

Consultant gynaecologist Ben Peyton-Jones said the technology “captured some very complex consultations accurately with excellent documentation.”

Patient Response

Patient feedback has been positive. Paul Mitchell, the first RD&E patient to experience the system, said: “The clinician gave me eye-to-eye contact throughout our appointment, which made me feel very comfortable.”

Another patient, Vickie Underhill, said: “It’s like having a chat, and it just felt a bit more personal. There were no distractions.”

Looking Forward

The hospital plans to extend AVT to all outpatient clinics by the end of 2026 and is exploring whether it could improve emergency care. The trust is working with the National Institute for Health and Care Research and the University of Exeter to evaluate the technology’s broader impact. If the model proves effective at scale, it could set a template for AI adoption across the NHS.