Why Ambient Voice Technology is Central to the NHS 10-Year Plan

On 3 July 2025, the UK Government published its 10-Year Health Plan for England — a sweeping call for NHS reform. The message is stark: "reform or die." The plan envisions a shift from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from reactive to preventative care.

One of the clearest signals in the plan is the strategic importance of artificial intelligence, and within that, Ambient Voice Technology (AVT) has been named as a core enabler of NHS transformation.

"We will scale the use of technology like AI scribes to liberate staff from their current burden of bureaucracy and administration, freeing up time to care."

NHS 10-Year Plan, 2025

The administrative burden on NHS clinicians is overwhelming. UK NHS doctors spend a staggering 73% of their time on non-patient-facing tasks, effectively four hours of administration for every hour with patients. It's no surprise that burnout, attrition, and early retirement are widespread.

Ambient Voice Technology (AVT) - also known as ambient AI scribes, listen in the background during consultations (with patient consent), transcribe, summarise, and structure the notes - freeing up clinicians to focus on care.

"Tandem has been revolutionary for me. It saves me 45–60 minutes per clinical session - that amounts to 35–40% efficiency... Tandem has helped improve my work-life balance."

Dr Nadeem Ahmed, GP, Melrose Surgery

Audits of Tandem-generated notes show a 97% clinical accuracy rate*. According to an independent study of 300 consultations at St Wulfstan's GP practice, 89% of notes met or exceeded clinician expectations for completeness and clarity, 97.6% of GPs reported a reduction in end-of-day admin, and 82% noted more focused, patient-centred consultations when using AVT. Nearly all users - 95% - said it made documentation faster and easier than traditional note-taking.

"Tandem captures useful information I wouldn't have recorded due to time constraints. It makes clinic a lot more efficient and less stressful."

Denise Koppschall, Physcians Associate, The Hill Surgery

"It correlates all the information and history the patient is reporting. I can concentrate more on the patient in the room."

Janine Farmer, ANP, The Hill Surgery

Patient feedback confirms this impact. Many report that their doctors maintain better eye contact, explain treatment plans more clearly, and seem more present during consultations. Patients have commented, "The doctor was looking at me more rather than the computer" and "It was a much better experience - the doctor could focus on me."

These are not outliers. Post-consultation surveys show improved understanding of care plans, greater confidence in clinical accuracy, and a strong preference for clinicians who appear more attentive.

Outside primary care, AVT pilots are running in several large NHS teaching hospitals, where documentation demands are even more complex. From outpatient departments to community health teams, clinicians are embracing AVT to reduce typing and improve presence with patients.

Secondary care trusts are now rapidly evaluating vendors to roll out ambient scribe solutions across entire trusts. Early pilot data is promising**: clinicians saved around 10 minutes per patient in documentation and review time and spent 25 minutes less overtime per day. 35% of clinicians reported needing two fewer team members to review documents. Mental fatigue scores dropped dramatically - from 7 to 3.4 on a 10-point scale - and clinicians rated their ability to focus during consultations significantly higher, from 7.6 to 8.7.

Despite the clear benefits, the regulatory landscape for AVT has become a moving target. On 9 June 2025, NHS England issued guidance emphasising that all AVT solutions must meet specific compliance standards. The letter highlighted risks of non-compliant solutions, including "clinical safety, data protection breaches, financial exposure, and fragmentation of broader NHS digital strategy."

Through our partnership with Accurx, Tandem already meets or exceeds all the required assurance standards, including Class I medical device registration with the MHRA. We are actively collaborating with NHS England on the national delivery proposal for safe AVT deployment across the NHS. This close partnership ensures we're not just compliant with current standards but also helping shape the framework for responsible AI adoption in healthcare.

What this scrutiny overlooks is the scale of demand: more than 1,500 NHS practices are currently on the waitlist for Accurx Scribe, powered by Tandem—with clinicians eager to implement this technology. This isn't innovation for its own sake; it's addressing a genuine need from clinicians who desperately need tools that allow them to focus on what truly matters.

With national policy endorsement, a robust safety record, and large-scale implementation already underway, ambient voice technology is becoming one of the most vital tools in the NHS's digital transformation.

The question is no longer if this technology will scale, but how quickly we can deliver it safely, equitably, and with the patient-clinician relationship at the centre.

References

• 10-Year Health Plan for England: Fit for the Future
• Time Allocation in Clinical Training: Four Hours of Administrative Work for Every Hour With Patients
• NHS England Issues Guidance on Ambient Voice Technology
• Accurx Scribe: Meeting NHSE Requirements for AI Scribe Technology
• MHRA Class I Medical Device Registration

*Monthly audit of 500 randomly sampled notes. Rate of Hallucination / Ommission / Innaccuracy 2.8-3.6%

**Survey responses from 20 secondary care users

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About Dr. Ian Robertson
‍Dr. Ian Robertson is a trained NHS surgeon with over a decade of experience in secondary care. He has worked at leading UK hospitals, including Charing Cross and St George’s, specialising in urology and robotic surgery. Ian also holds an MBA from London Business School, where he focused on healthcare strategy and was awarded the Healthcare Scholarship for leadership in medical innovation.

Before joining Tandem, Ian led national improvement programmes and advised major NHS trusts on clinical operations and service redesign. Drawing on his deep understanding of hospital workflows and system challenges, he now leads Tandem’s commercial efforts to bring AI scribe technology into secondary care, working closely with clinicians and NHS leaders to improve frontline efficiency, reduce burnout, and protect time for patient care.

If you’d like to explore how AI scribes can support hospitals, feel free to connect with Ian on Linkedin.

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