A few weeks ago I ivited HIFA members to "Imagine a future where every health worker has access to their patient's EMR. At each visit, the health worker adds new observations. AI automatically processes this to recommend a management plan for the health worker to consider, including which tests are needed, how to advise the patient, and which medicines to prescribe. The AI is freely available and is trustworthy, demonstrating reliability at least as good as the best clinicians. To what extent is this already happening?
Is the above achievable? How long will it take?" https://www.hifa.org/dgroups-rss/artificial-intelligence-electronic-medi...
Tomorrow's BMJ says: 'NHS staff must immediately stop using any artificial intelligence ambient scribe tools that have not been officially registered for medical use in the UK, NHS England has said...'
https://www.bmj.com/content/389/bmj.r1302 [restricted access]
The order was given to NHS organisations in a letter on 9 June.
Guidance from the NHS just a few weeks earlier extols the benefits of AI scribe tools. See extracts below.
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AI-enabled ambient scribing products in health and care settings
An overview for NHS executives and Boards, 27 April 2025
'Ambient scribing products, including ambient voice technologies (AVTs), unobtrusively record the patient and caregiver conversation in the background and then convert that dialogue into text and other outputs, requiring minimal user intervention. These technologies utilise advanced speech recognition and integrate powerful capabilities driven by Generative AI and Large Language Models (LLMs).
'Ambient scribing products are designed to support clinical or patient documentation and workflows. So, rather than focusing on the computer screen, keyboard or dictaphone, the caregiver can focus on the patient in front of them, with confidence that their conversation will translate into an accurate draft summarisation for review and validation after the visit...
'Benefits of ambient scribing products
The adoption of ambient scribing products and AVTs can transform any care setting by improving clinical efficiency, enhancing patient care, reducing clinician workload and addressing the challenges of poor data quality...'
'Ambient scribing products offer a transformative opportunity for the NHS to enhance clinical efficiency and productivity, improve patient care, and address the challenges of poor data quality. By strategically integrating these products, the NHS can drive innovation, achieve cost savings, and support the well-being of its workforce, ultimately leading to better health outcomes for patients.'
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https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/ai-enabled-ambient-scribing-product...
Is the order appropriate, or is it better simply to warn doctors about the fallibility of such tools and to emphasise the importance of checking all technical outputs for accuracy?
Best wishes, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org