Heidi transcription tool cuts NHS admin time in West Midlands

The NHS is rolling out Heidi, an AI voice transcription tool, across urgent care, outpatients and GP surgeries in the West Midlands. Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust is one of 15 NHS Trusts that jointly procured the mobile phone software, which listens to conversations between doctors and patients and turns them into written medical notes and letters.

Doctors say the tool is improving waiting times by reducing the time spent typing after consultations. Dr Mohammed Jamil Aslam, an emergency consultant at Walsall Manor Hospital, said Heidi operates in 110 languages and is saving him six minutes per consultation, allowing more patients to be diagnosed and treated while patients feel clinicians are more present.

At a clinic in Dudley, Heidi has been credited with reducing a backlog of posting patient letters from six months to 14 days. Ravinder Sahota, group chief information officer at The Dudley Group and Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals, said the software could help break down communication barriers for patients whose first language is not English and make complex medical letters easier to understand.