July 16, 2025
Ambient voice technology pilot underway across BNSSG
One Care is working with 51 general practice partnerships across BNSSG to pilot ambient voice technology (AVT) — AI-powered scribe tools used during patient consultations. We’re collaborating with suppliers Heidi and Anima, both of which offer NHS-assured, compliant AVT products. Early feedback from practices has already shown promising results.
Why try AVT in general practice?
We want to improve patient experience of consultations, save time for practice staff by reducing the admin burden, and help reduce stress by helping to ease workloads.
AVT supports these aims. It is a tool which listens during consultations, capturing what’s said and turning it into written notes. AVT reduces the need for typing, helping clinicians to stay focused on their patient. Notes are checked thoroughly before being included in the patient record.
A practice taking part in the pilot reported: “Recently I did an entire surgery without Heidi (AVT). Looking back at the records this morning, I can see the difference in detail captured and safety netting. There’s no doubt my consultation records are richer through using AVT.”
Another practice said: ‘Heidi significantly reduces typing time – approximately a 50% reduction. It helps clinicians organize their thoughts and focus more on the patient during consultations. It is particularly useful for mental health and autism assessments.’
We’ve worked with practices taking part in the pilot to help them use AVT safely, and to make sure patients are fully informed about its use. All are given the choice to opt-out of having it used during their appointments. With 51 practices taking part in this pilot, the consultations of over 850,000 patients can potentially be supported by AVT during the project.
What has been learned so far?
We are a quarter of the way through the 12-month pilot, and our findings to date include:
- time saving: most practices in the pilot believe the AI scribe is saving time on clinical documentation – and it’s not just GPs using the technology, but medical secretaries, practice managers and other staff too
- positive patient response: most patients are very positive about AVT being used in their care. Patient opt-outs have been rare, but rose slightly following the media coverage about non-assured products
- equalities issues: there are equalities issues which need further exploration – for example, whether the technology performs less well for patients whose first language isn’t English
- levels of use: in the last three months, GPs across BNSSG have held over 40,000 total sessions, generated over 49,000 sets of clinical notes or documents, and over 470,000 minutes have been transcribed with Heidi
What’s next?
We will evaluate the experiences of staff using AVT to help practices decide if it offers value for money. We’ll share updates throughout the pilot, and the final report will be available in early 2026
We are also discussing with our partners in hospital and community services how the use of AVT can be integrated across health and care in the region.
To find out more about the AVT pilot please contact morgan.daly@onecare.org.uk and westley.lane@onecare.org.uk
Ambient voice technology pilot underway across BNSSG
