The NHS will begin using AI on its app to direct patients to the appropriate services, it has been announced.
The tool will be used to triage patients and to ascertain if they should be allocated a GP appointment. Some may be advised to attend a pharmacy or their local A&E department instead, depending on the severity of their condition.
The update is expected to reach 200,000 patients over the next year and be available to all users by April 2028.
Ending the so-called 8am scramble for same-day GP appointments was a central Labour manifesto promise before its 2024 election victory.
The government said a trial at Wealden Ridge Medical Partnership, which operates surgeries across Sussex, had led to a 29% fall in the number of patients queueing for a GP appointment on its phone lines.
The rollout is part of a £10bn government funding package designed to overhaul technology and data systems within the health service to improve efficiency.
This is also expected to include the use of AI to record patient consultations, in an attempt to reduce note taking time. A trial led by Great Ormond Street hospital across nine sites in London found staff spent 25% more time interacting with patients when using the tool, officials said.
The health secretary, James Murray, said he was “certain” that new technological advances would “get patients to the right care faster, free our brilliant clinicians from mountains of paperwork, and help drive down waiting times”.
However, health leaders said there was a need for a broader long-term strategy about the use of AI across the NHS. They expressed concerns that there was limited evidence about the productivity improvements it could offer. They also said they were worried that patient privacy could be compromised, and that those who were less confident using technology could be disadvantaged.
Lynn Woolsey, chief nursing officer at the Royal College of Nursing, said the app rollout could be “an important step in upgrading technology in the NHS” but added: “There are also warnings to heed, with growing concerns about overstated, overly optimistic assessments of the productivity benefits from AI.
“We cannot have situations where it increases bureaucracy through the need to correct flawed or inaccurate work.
“Patients must be reassured that any new systems handling their information, such as ambient voice technology, are accurate and properly protect confidentiality.”
Tim Horton, the deputy director of policy at the Health Foundation, said the announcement was a “positive recognition of the sustained investment needed to transform the NHS into a 21st-century service” but said it was “critical that these plans are part of a broader blueprint for reshaping how care is delivered”.
He added: “The missing piece in the transformation puzzle is a broader long-term strategy for guiding the use of AI across the health system, where important questions remain about the approaches and safeguards needed, and how more organisations can be supported to benefit from AI. Without this, the NHS risks piecemeal adoption of AI, struggling to achieve benefits at scale.”
Ciarán Devane, the chief executive of the NHS Alliance, said the the key issue was how the £10bn investment would translate into practical support and funding for NHS leaders to deliver and expand programmes at a local level.
“There should be a general principle of maximising the discretion of local leaders to invest in the technologies and solutions that make most sense for their local populations and communities,” he continued.
“Heath leaders need clarity too on which elements will be mandatory for adoption and what expectations will be placed on organisations.
“It is vital that this funding is not whittled away as we have seen all-too-often in the past when the squeeze for savings has landed on NHS capital budgets. That would be a very damaging, false economy.”
Pritesh Mistry, a fellow at the healthcare charity The King’s Fund, said: “For patients, the real test will be whether these investments make care feel more joined up, more convenient and more empowering.
“People should find it easier to have support at the right time and in a way that best suits them, digitally or physically. And this means the NHS will need to keep a strong focus on ensuring that people are not digitally excluded as clinical services become increasingly reliant on technology.”
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