Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust is trialling a new kind of technology that could change how doctors and nurses work by giving them more time to care.

This month, the Trust is launching its first-ever pilot of ambient AI in two departments: Rheumatology and Community Paediatrics. The project is led by the Buckinghamshire Research and Innovation team and uses the NHS England approved CLEARnotes, a tool developed by NHS clinicians and health tech company 33n.

CLEARnotes listens securely to conversations between patients and clinicians during appointments and automatically creates accurate notes. This means staff don’t have to spend time typing or writing up records after the appointment — freeing them up to focus fully on the person in front of them. All patients involved will be asked to consent to the technology being used with no obligation to do so.

In other NHS trials, this technology has helped increase productivity by up to 25%, allowing more patients to be seen without adding pressure to staff.

The pilot supports the Trust’s goals of improving patient experience, making services more efficient, and supporting staff wellbeing. It also fits with the NHS Long Term Plan, which calls for smarter use of digital tools to reduce admin and improve care.

Ryan Kerstein, Associate Medical Director for Research and Innovation at the Trust, explained: “We chose to start with Community Paediatrics and Rheumatology because they’re among our most complex clinics. Our aim is to give clinicians the freedom to focus entirely on the patient, rather than splitting their attention with paperwork.”

The pilot will run for three months. Feedback from staff and patients will help decide whether to expand the technology to other areas of the Trust.