Artificial Intelligence Aims to Reduce Paperwork and Free Up Doctors, Cutting Waiting Times

A pioneering AI tool designed to accelerate the discharge of patients from hospital beds is being piloted at Chelsea and Westminster NHS trust in London. The innovative platform, which extracts information from medical records, has the potential to save hours of delays and free up beds by automating the completion of discharge summaries.

According to Health Secretary Wes Streeting, the technology will enable doctors to devote more time to patient care and less time to paperwork, ultimately reducing waiting times. “This potentially transformational discharge tool is a prime example of how we’re shifting from analogue to digital as part of our 10-year health plan,” he said.

The AI tool, which will be hosted on the NHS Federated Data Platform, extracts diagnoses and test results from medical records to draft discharge summaries. These summaries are then reviewed by healthcare professionals before patients are sent home or referred to other services. The manual system can sometimes leave patients waiting for hours to be discharged, as doctors may be too busy to fill in forms.

The pilot, which is part of the NHS’s efforts to modernize its services, aims to reduce the time spent on paperwork by doctors and nurses, freeing up resources for more critical tasks. The AI tool is expected to improve patient outcomes by ensuring that patients receive timely and accurate care.

The use of AI in the NHS is not limited to discharge summaries. The technology is also being used to analyze hospital databases and detect potential safety scandals early, providing an early warning system that could trigger urgent inspections. This has the potential to prevent adverse events and improve patient safety.

In other areas, AI is being used to transform public services. The technology is being used in probation services, where it has been shown to halve the time spent on note-taking. In the NHS, AI is also being used to predict a patient’s risk of disease and dying early, giving doctors more time to focus on delivering better outcomes.

The government has also announced plans to launch a new AI-powered physiotherapy clinic, which has already halved the waiting list for back pain and musculoskeletal services in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. The clinic, which uses a physiotherapy app to provide patients with personalized treatment plans, has demonstrated the potential of AI to improve patient care and reduce waiting times.

The use of AI in the NHS is part of the government’s efforts to harness the power of technology to transform public services. The technology is expected to unlock significant productivity gains, with the potential to save the NHS billions of pounds in the long term.

Key Benefits of AI in the NHS:

• Reduced waiting times for patients
• Improved patient outcomes
• Reduced paperwork and administrative tasks for doctors and nurses
• Improved patient safety through early detection of potential safety scandals
• Increased productivity and efficiency in the NHS

Future Plans:

• Rollout of AI-powered discharge tool to other NHS trusts
• Expansion of AI-powered physiotherapy clinic to other areas
• Development of new AI-powered tools to improve patient care and reduce waiting times
• Continued investment in AI research and development to improve the effectiveness of AI in the NHS.