United Lincolnshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is extending its pilot of the Accurx ambient voice technology solution for an additional eight month period.
In a contract notice, the trust shares its intent to continue to pilot the solution of the AI scribing tool featuring AVT and additional associated functionality, following the conclusion of an initial pilot exercise. The contract, lasting to March 2027, is valued at £25,000.
Earlier this year, the trust took steps to procure an EPR implementation delivery partner to support its EPR programme.
The Lincolnshire Community and Hospitals NHS Group also put forward its suggested timeline for a three-phase delivery of its EPR, with the first two phases to be delivered by April 2027.
Currently, the EPR programme is to go ahead in three phases: phase one covering front door systems, patient safety bundle, bed and flow management, and investigations to go live in October 2026; 
and phase two covering electronic prescribing, investigations read and interact, inpatient paperless, and infection prevention control to go live in April 2027.
Phase three will be “more complex due to patient services hub integration”, the trust noted, incorporating PAS, theatres, patient engagement elements, outpatient clinical, and final elements on interfaces with other systems.
Wider trend: AVT
Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust started its roll out of Lyrebird Health ambient voice technology last week, initially in the emergency department, gastroenterology and gynaecology outpatients. The trust has been working in partnership with other South West London trusts and the SWL Acute Provider Collaborative to introduce AVT, the board noted earlier this year. A second phase of the roll out is also planned, to include more outpatient specialties and community services, followed by other clinical areas, Kingston and Richmond shares. Deployment is being coordinated with partner organisations across the region to promote consistency in approach.
In a recent meeting, the board of South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust highlighted digital in supporting mental health pathways, including the use of ambient voice technology in giving back time to care, and virtual reality for children and young people’s emotional wellbeing. Ambient voice technology will be piloted for admin work, it shares, and automated information sharing will let schools check in and consider support options for children from their setting. A pilot of extended reality as an intervention for young people presenting with anxiety or emotion-related school avoidance is continuing, and the trust is now focusing on improvements following the digitisation of neurodevelopmental screening processes.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has published guidance to clarify how the medical devices regulations apply to ambient voice technology in health and care. MHRA notes that some AVT solutions qualify as a medical device and confirms some “AVT products that are intended solely for transcription, summarising of clinical conversations, drafting letters, or suggesting clinical codes for a clinician to review are not regulated as medical devices under the current framework”. The body goes on to recommend that “users of such AVT products should carefully consider what information and practices are needed to ensure safe deployment”.
