The benefits of working with an AI medical scribe

We’re pleased to announce we’ve appointed Heidi as our AI note-taking assistant.

We’re always looking for ways to improve the care and experience we provide and have long since been mindful that one of the biggest pressures on our GPs is the time spent writing and checking clinical notes and letters.

‘Ambient scribe’ tools are AI systems which listen in the background and draft notes. They are now being widely used in healthcare to reduce documentation time and help clinicians focus more on patients.

We’re pleased to announce we’ve chosen to adopt Heidi as our preferred medical scribe. This decision is part of our ongoing commitment to high-quality, patient-centred care, through innovation and continuous improvement.

The problem we’re trying to solve

Modern general practice involves a huge amount of documentation: writing up consultations, recording examination findings, updating medication lists and drafting letters and reports. Although essential for safety and continuity, these obligations around documentation can also:

• Take significant time after hours.

• Pull the doctor’s attention towards the screen and away from the patient.

• Contribute to clinician stress and burnout.

We wanted to explore tools that could enhance patient experience and better support our clinicians, without compromising safety, confidentiality or the personal nature of our consultations.

What Heidi does for us

Heidi is what’s described as an ‘ambient medical scribe’. With your explicit permission, it listens while your doctor talks with you. It then generates a draft note and, when needed, a draft letter. At The Hove Practice, we use Heidi to:

• Support more detailed, structured notes.

• Reduce the time doctors spend typing and formatting letters.

• Allow doctors to maintain eye contact and active listening.

Importantly, your GP always retains oversight and remains in control: Heidi provides a draft, your doctor reviews, edits and approves the final content.

How we’ve checked safety, privacy and fairness

Patient safety, privacy and fairness are of the highest priority at our Practice; therefore, prior to using Heidi we:

• Reviewed Heidi’s Digital Technology Assessment Criteria (DTAC) and clinical safety documentation.

• Completed our own Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) and Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) for The Hove Practice.

• Put in place a clinical safety officer, a hazard log and an incident process specifically for Heidi.

• Developed clear staff guidance and annual training on when and how to use Heidi and - importantly - when not to use it.

We also follow national guidance from NHS England, the CQC and the Information Commissioner’s Office on the safe use of AI in healthcare, and we treat Heidi as a support tool, not a decision-maker.

Your rights and your choices

It’s vitally important to us that Heidi never feels imposed.

• We will always explain in advance, when we plan to use Heidi.

• We will always ask for your permission.

• You can say no, or ask us to switch it off at any time.

• Saying no will not affect your access to appointments, tests or treatment.

• If you’d prefer that Heidi is never used for you, please tell us.

• We’ll make note in your record if you have requested Heidi is not used.

We also monitor for any issues around accuracy and fairness. For example, if Heidi performs less well for certain accents or speech difficulties. In those cases we will simply stop using it and go back to traditional note-taking.

How we’ll know if Heidi is helping

We aren’t just turning Heidi on and hoping for the best. We plan to:

• Audit a sample of consultations and letters regularly, checking documentation quality, consent recording, equality issues and incidents.

• Review any complaints or concerns related to Heidi through our normal governance processes.

• Adjust our protocols, training and configuration if we identify any risks or unintended consequences.

Our goal is simple: better documentation, more time and attention for patients and safe use of technology that meets or exceeds regulatory expectations.

We’re always on hand to answer your questions

If you have questions or feedback about Heidi, we’d be very happy to hear them. Please get in touch.

Contact our front desk on 01273 733830
Email us our Practice Manger at reception@thehovepractice.co.uk
Book online via our website www.thehovepractice.co.uk/bookonline
Pop in and see us 86 Church Road, Hove, BN3 2EB