NHS demands doctors stop using unapproved AI software to record patient conversations

NHS England is demanding that doctors stop using unauthorized artificial intelligence (AI) software to record and transcribe patient conversations.

A Sky News investigation cites a warning sent out by NHS England that urges doctors and GPs to stop using AI tools “that could breach data protection rules and put patients at risk.”

The June 9th letter, from the national chief clinical information officer of NHS England, said:

"We are now aware of a number of AVT solutions which, despite being non-compliant ... are still being widely used in clinical practice.

"Several AVT suppliers are approaching NHS organisations ... many of these vendors have not complied with basic NHS governance standards.

"Proceeding with non-compliant solutions risks clinical safety, data protection breaches, financial exposure, and fragmentation of broader NHS digital strategy."

This comes just weeks after the NHS itself encouraged doctors to use AI for notetaking, such as Ambient Voice Technology or "AVT" software, giving them more time to concentrate on patients.

In January, researchers tested four AI models, both commercial and open-source, using 2,000 clinical cases to see how AI models perform in real-world situations at medical offices.

The research revealed that while the models performed well on multiple-choice questions, they showed a decline in results when handling open-ended responses and engaging in conversations similar to real-world interactions with patients.