Surgery Assist, formerly known as EDATT, represents a significant leap in the use of AI to address key challenges in primary care, particularly around patient access and operational efficiency. Designed as a patient-facing digital assistant delivered through a chatbot interface, Surgery Assist is locally trained to respond empathetically to thousands of patient queries. It can surface webforms, user guides and even act as an automated care navigator, directing patients to appropriate care services such as community services, or the NHS App. 

Tackling the “8am rush”

83% of patients still default to calling their GP Practice in times of need. Surgery Assist presents patients with an alternative option at the point of contact, immediately giving them the option to self-serve or to be redirected via the chatbot.

Interjecting and rerouting patients, who choose to, away from the call queue into a self-service pathway, creates additional capacity for those patients who need to speak to a receptionist and speeds up time to care.  

With Surgery Assist handling up to 30% of your patient requests, your staff have more time to offer personalised patient care to patients with more complex needs.

Integration capability

It is important to note that Surgery Assist is system agnostic, meaning it works seamlessly with any cloud-based telephony system, online consultation tool, or website provider. This ensures broad compatibility and makes the solution accessible to all practices.

Local delivery, national scalability

Surgery Assist is trained on a number of factors relating to the practice it serves such as, the nuanced needs of your patient demographics, your practice’s digital maturity, and workforce skills. This localised training ensures that your digital assistant is ready and available to solve your patient’s complex needs with an understanding of your practice’s process and also your local available services. 

The AI-driven system has already shown remarkable results. In one early implementation, a GP practice using Surgery Assist reported a 54% reduction in calls between 8am-10am, missed calls down 65%, and average call queue time halved. Scaled nationally, this technology has the potential to reduce millions of calls to GP surgeries each month.

With dwindling resources in general practice, the AI-powered digital assistant from X-On Health is well-timed to support NHS primary care’s key priorities of improved access, speeding up time to care, freeing up capacity and offering better integration with wider system services such as community and neighbourhood teams. 

Transformative potential

Where system pressures are concerned, Surgery Assist is one of the most impactful breakthrough technologies in primary care. By reducing administrative burdens, it supports the shift toward a more proactive, patient-centered healthcare system.

As healthcare systems face increasing pressures, Surgery Assist is proving that AI can be leveraged as a practical, scalable tool to address modern challenges, offering a blueprint for the future of primary care demand management and capacity planning.

If you would like to see a demonstration of Surgery Assist, please complete the enquiry form here >