Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust has begun rolling out artificial intelligence voice transcription software to improve patient waiting times across urgent care, outpatients and GP surgeries.
Walsall is one of 15 NHS Trusts in the West Midlands to have jointly procured the transcription tool, called Heidi. The mobile phone application uses AI to listen to conversations between doctors and patients, automatically generating written medical notes and letters.
More time for patient care
The software enables medical staff to spend less time typing and more time with patients. Dr Mohammed Jamil Aslam, an emergency consultant at Walsall Manor Hospital, said the tool is saving him six minutes per consultation.
"Patients feel listened to. They feel the clinician is present. Rather than typing about their care, they're delivering it," Dr Aslam told the BBC. "Doctors are actively listening and patients feel heard."
Breaking down language barriers
Heidi operates in 110 languages. Ravinder Sahota, group chief information officer at The Dudley Group and Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals, said the tool is breaking down communication barriers for patients where English is not their first language.
At one clinic in Dudley, Heidi is credited with reducing a backlog of posting patient letters from six months to 14 days.