Heidi and other AI scribes can make consultations feel more focused and documentation less burdensome. To use them safely, clinicians need to understand consent requirements, review obligations, data governance expectations, and the limits of AI-generated notes — whether they are using Heidi, Tortus, Accurx Scribe, or any other ambient voice technology product.
What Heidi Does
Heidi's ambient AI scribe listens to clinical consultations in the background and generates structured clinical documentation — notes, referral letters, patient messages, and coding suggestions — for the clinician to review and approve. It is registered as an MHRA Class I medical device for summarisation functionality, is DTAC assessed, and holds ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Type II certifications. Audio data is temporarily stored for transcription and deleted once documentation is verified.
What an AI Scribe Does Not Do
AI scribes do not independently verify clinical accuracy. They do not check whether the prescribed medication is appropriate for the patient's clinical context. They do not confirm that the referral meets the criteria of the receiving service. They do not assess whether the safety-netting advice is adequate for the presentation. They do not evaluate whether the SNOMED code accurately reflects the diagnostic certainty of the consultation. They generate documentation from the consultation as it occurred — the clinical quality of that consultation remains the clinician's responsibility.
Consent: How to Explain It to Patients
NHS England's guidance requires clinicians to inform patients at the start of any session that an AI scribe is in use. Explicit consent is not legally required (the legal basis is typically Article 6(1)(e) and Article 9(2)(h) of UK GDPR), but transparency is essential. Suggested wording from NHS England: "During your appointment today I will be using an ambient scribe to help me to take notes."
Explain what the tool does in plain language. Tell the patient what happens to the recording (deleted after the note is generated). Offer to answer questions. Be prepared to proceed without the scribe if the patient objects. Do not create pressure — the patient's comfort should be prioritised, particularly in sensitive consultations.
Review: What to Check Before Saving
The clinician retains full responsibility for the accuracy of the clinical record. Before approving any AI-generated note, verify: correct patient and consultation date, accurate presenting complaint in the patient's language, relevant positives and critically the safety-relevant negatives, examination findings that were actually performed (not inferred by the AI), clinical uncertainty preserved (suspected vs confirmed vs excluded), medication accuracy (names, doses, routes, durations), SNOMED coding accuracy (confirmed vs suspected vs historical), management plan matching what was actually discussed and agreed, safety-netting that is specific and time-bound, and clear follow-up responsibilities.
Medicines and Allergies: High-Risk Fields
Heidi's report acknowledges that speech recognition may struggle with complex drug names and that LLM summarisation can hallucinate. Medicines fields require particular attention: verify drug names, check allergy documentation distinguishes between true allergy and intolerance, confirm doses and frequencies, and ensure monitoring commitments are documented as actions rather than conversational mentions.
Data Governance and Organisational Policy
Before using any AI scribe, verify that your organisation has completed a DPIA (NHS England provides a template), has appropriate data processing agreements in place, has included AVT use in the patient-facing privacy notice, and has ensured the product meets AVT Supplier Registry requirements. Individual clinicians should not deploy AI scribes without organisational governance approval — even if the tool is freely available to download.
How to Use iatroX Alongside AI Documentation
After the note is drafted, clinicians still need reliable places to check the clinical content behind decisions. Ask iatroX provides guideline-grounded clinical answers. Calculators provide validated risk scoring. CPD captures the learning from the encounter. Use the scribe for the documentation. Use iatroX for the verification and learning.
Try iatroX for guideline-grounded clinical questions, calculators, and CPD →