The challenge

Even as one of the UK’s top-rated GP practices, St Wulfstan Surgery in Warwickshire wasn’t immune to the rising tide of administrative burden facing primary care. Clinicians were spending too much time on documentation and not enough time with patients – leading to increased stress and a risk of burnout.

“We’re always looking at how we can go further, even when we’re performing well,” explains Dr Faris Al-Ramadani, GP Partner at the practice. “Digital innovation is part of our strategy not because we’re struggling, but because we want to future-proof the quality of our care”.

How they solved it using Tandem

St Wulfstan piloted Tandem’s AI medical scribe to reduce admin time and help GPs stay more present with patients. Over a four-month period, GPs alternated between using and not using the AI scribe during consultations. Tandem listened to patient visits, captured key details, and automatically generated structured notes – ready for GPs to review and approve.

The onboarding process included full data governance (DPIA, DCB0160), training, and IT setup. Structured surveys and interviews with both patients and clinicians tracked the impact.

“Tandem isn’t about replacement. It’s about reclaiming the human part of the job,”

says Dr Al-Ramadani.

The result

The pilot showed clear benefits across the board:

Patient experience:

• 99% of patients felt their GP was fully engaged when Tandem was used (vs. 83.6% without)
• 94% felt more involved in the consultation

Documentation time:

• 43.6% of notes were completed in under 1 minute with Tandem (vs. 1.4% without)
• The average time to finalise a note was under 1 minute

“And when you find a tool that simultaneously improves patient experience and helps GPs, then it’s worth every GP taking a look.”

GP satisfaction and wellbeing:

• 97% of GPs said Tandem reduced their admin burden
• 100% said it improved how they worked and helped them remember key consultation points
• 89% of GPs agreed the notes accurately reflected the consultation, and 90% required little or no editing

As Dr Al-Ramadani puts it:

“We’re not expecting more money or more staff. But we can get more from what we’ve got. Tandem helps us do that. It’s a small shift that could mean a much bigger change for how primary care is delivered”.

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