Somerset NHS Foundation Trust has shared a series of communications to explain to patients how the trust is using technologies such as AI, ambient voice, virtual nursing, and generative AI.
Andy Mayne, chief scientist for data, operational research and AI, shared on LinkedIn that the purpose is to educate patients on the use of these technologies to enhance care, as well as to “be transparent about where we use it”. Andy also shared the trust’s AI policy late last year, which spoke of a commitment to ensuring transparency, along with safety, equality, inclusion, and thorough testing.
The communication sets out uses of AI in planning services and completing administrative tasks, as well as highlighting that during appointments clinicians may use ambient AI for real-time dictation, allowing them the time to focus on delivering care. It reassures patients that they will be told beforehand if the tech will be used during their appointment, and given the option to opt out, adding that opting out “will not negatively impact” the care they receive.
The leaflet moves on to describe what AI is and its main uses across understanding human language, recognising images, automation, prediction, and generative AI. It covers how AI works, noting the potential to use data to train AI models in identifying patterns and making predictions, allowing for the analysis of a quantity and variety of data which would be “too complex for humans to calculate”; and the use of algorithms in getting AI models to follow predefined instructions.
A section on the benefits of AI focuses on its role in helping improve patient safety by identifying those at risk of falls or adverse outcomes, virtual monitoring, and alerting to deterioration. “We are using AI to automate processes that are taking our healthcare professionals away from delivering direct patient care,” it states. Also mentioned is its role in the design of services to meet patient needs, the delivery of personalised care, and identifying opportunities for preventative care.
Somerset NHS FT’s communication on ambient voice technology takes a similar approach, taking patients through how the technology works, and outlining benefits such as increased accuracy, enhanced clinician focus on care, automation of administrative tasks, and reduced delays in recording information from appointments. The communication again establishes that patients are free to choose not to have this technology used in their care, and that this will not impact the quality of care received.
Two examples are given of uses of ambient voice at Somerset NHS FT, indicating that patients may see their clinician using software on a laptop or computer to dictate their conversations, typically in outpatient services; or on a device similar to a speaker that will be connected up to a laptop or computer, designed to work in scenarios involving multiple clinicians at one time, such as in the ED or maternity unit.
AI in health and care
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