A growing array of ambient voice scribing solutions are automating the capture and synthesis of clinical encounters, freeing UK clinicians to focus on patient interaction rather than documentation. Early pilots of tools from providers like Tortus AI, Tandem Health, and Heidi Health report substantial time savings and efficiency gains. However, these powerful tools come with important considerations around accuracy, clinical oversight, and data governance.
This article provides a comprehensive overview of the leading AI medical scribe technologies available in UK primary care, their effective usage strategies, and the future of their integration with clinical decision support systems.
Overview of ambient voice scribe technologies
Several key players are leading the rollout of ambient scribe technology across the NHS, each with a robust framework for safety and compliance.
Tortus AI – Surgery Intellect
In partnership with X-on Health, Tortus AI is deploying its "Surgery Intellect" platform across more than 3,500 GP practices in the UK (Future Medicine AI). The system is designed to passively listen to face-to-face or telephone consultations, generating structured clinical summaries, referral letters, and suggested clinical codes in real time. Early users report saving an average of four minutes per consultation. Tortus AI is MHRA-registered as a Class I medical device (with Class IIa pending) and is compliant with NHS DTAC, GDPR, DSPT, and Cyber Essentials Plus standards (Surgery Connect | X-on Health).
Tandem Health – Accurx Scribe
Integrated into the widely-used Accurx communications platform, which reaches 98% of GP practices, Tandem Health's Accurx Scribe is poised for rapid adoption (Digital Health). The tool reduces administrative burden by transcribing, summarising, coding, and drafting letters directly within the consultation workflow. Independent audits have demonstrated a 97% clinical accuracy rate, and evaluations show 35–40% efficiency gains per clinical session. The platform is also MHRA-registered as a Class I medical device and meets the NHSE’s April 2025 AI scribe guidance (tandemhealth.ai, support.accurx.com).
Heidi Health – AI Medical Scribe
Heidi Health has undertaken the largest UK rollout to date via the Modality Partnership, covering 360 GPs across 53 sites and benefiting approximately 500,000 patients (Heidi Health). The platform automates notes, referral letters, care plans, and coding, with integrations for major EHRs including EMIS and SystmOne. Heidi’s own data indicates that 80% of its GP users regained significant administrative time. The platform adheres to NHS, HIPAA, and GDPR standards and holds key security certifications, including SOC 2 and ISO 27001 (Heidi Health).
Effective usage strategies
To maximise the benefits of these tools, practices should adopt a structured approach to implementation.
Training and onboarding
Clinician confidence is key to successful adoption. It's essential to conduct hands-on workshops that demonstrate start-to-finish use cases, from initiating a recording to efficiently reviewing and editing the generated notes. Leveraging vendor-provided e-learning modules and role-based training scenarios can further solidify understanding and trust in the system.
Workflow integration and single sign-on
To minimise context switching and disruption, scribe controls should be embedded directly within EMIS/SystmOne toolbars or familiar interfaces like Accurx. Utilising single sign-on (SSO) frameworks, such as NHS Identity, can streamline the login process, maintain clear audit trails, and improve security.
Optimising audio quality
The accuracy of any scribe is dependent on the quality of the audio input. Practices should position microphones strategically to capture both the clinician's and the patient's voices clearly and equally. Minimising ambient background noise and ensuring robust patient consent protocols are in place before any recording begins are also crucial steps.
Limitations and considerations
While powerful, these tools require careful oversight and a clear understanding of their limitations.
Accuracy and clinical oversight
Studies have shown that while AI scribes save significant time (around 26%), they may occasionally omit nuanced patient comments or misorder narrative elements, flagging occasional inaccuracies (PMC). Therefore, it is a non-negotiable principle that a clinician must always verify and edit the AI-generated notes before they are finalised and saved to the patient record. The clinician remains the ultimate arbiter of the clinical record.
Privacy, security, and compliance
Before adopting any tool, practices must confirm the vendor's adherence to all relevant UK standards, including GDPR, the NHS Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT), the Digital Technology Assessment Criteria (DTAC), and MHRA medical-device regulations (Surgery Connect | X-on Health). A critical governance question to ask is whether any patient data is used for model retraining, which should never occur without explicit and specific consent.
Customisation and specialty needs
Primary care is not monolithic. It's important to work with vendors to tailor documentation templates and coding rules to fit local specialty workflows, such as those in paediatrics or mental health. A best practice is to pilot a scribe in one focused clinical area before planning an organisation-wide deployment.
Future outlook and integration with CDSS
The true power of AI scribes will be unlocked when they are integrated with clinical decision support systems (CDSS).
Standards-based integration (FHIR-CDS API)
The NHS Clinical Decision Support FHIR API provides a standardised way to connect different systems. In the future, scribe-generated outputs (as Observation, Encounter, and Task resources) could be fed directly into CDSS engines, enabling real-time decision prompts based on what was just discussed in the consultation (NHS England Digital).
Embedding in RAG-powered knowledge tools (iatroX)
The next frontier involves using ambient scribe transcripts as a live context for RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) systems. This would allow platforms like iatroX to move beyond manual search and deliver tailored, evidence-linked recommendations in real time based on the conversation, without the clinician needing to type a single query (iatrox.com).
Vision for seamless clinical support
The ultimate vision is a unified clinical interface where voice capture, structured documentation, and AI-driven guidance coexist seamlessly. This would create a powerful feedback loop, dramatically reducing cognitive load and enhancing the quality and safety of care.
Conclusion & next steps
AI medical scribes are a proven and powerful tool for reducing the administrative burden in UK primary care. To harness their potential responsibly, practices should:
- Pilot & evaluate: Launch small-scale pilots with leading platforms like Tortus, Accurx Scribe, or Heidi, carefully monitoring time savings, accuracy rates, and clinician satisfaction.
- Govern: Establish an AI governance committee to oversee compliance, data security, patient consent, and continuous quality improvement.
- Roadmap: Plan for a phased integration with CDSS platforms like iatroX, leveraging FHIR standards to create a bi-directional flow of data that enables true, real-time decision support.