NHS expands rollout of AI tools to cut waiting lists and missed appointments

The NHS is currently scaling up a series of digital initiatives designed to address operational challenges, including persistent waiting lists and high volumes of missed appointments.

Central to these changes is an artificial intelligence tool developed by Deep Medical. Often described as an AI receptionist, the software is being deployed across 10 NHS trusts following a successful pilot program at the Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust. The system utilizes machine learning to analyze various data points, including local weather, live traffic information, childcare commitments, and employment details, to predict which patients are at a higher risk of missing their appointments. By identifying these absences, the system dynamically rearranges schedules, offering evening or weekend slots to patients who may face difficulties attending during standard working hours. This allows the programme to repopulate a clinician's daily list to include additional patients.

The pilot results indicated a significant shift in attendance patterns. Researchers identified that a spike in last-minute cancellations occurred after two text reminders had been sent. By refining the timing of these communications — specifically targeting 14 days and four days prior to an appointment — the rate of missed appointments for a specific patient subset dropped from 10% to 4%. The initiative aims to address a national issue where one in 20 hospital appointments are missed, representing a cost to the service of approximately £1.2 billion.

"The use of AI to help reduce the number of missed appointments is another example of how new technologies are helping to improve care for patients, and ensuring the health service is making the best and most efficient use of taxpayers’ money."

Dr Vin Diwakar, national director for transformation at NHS England, via Pharmaphorum

Digital Triage and Administrative Support

NHS England is also expanding the use of a digital triage tool integrated into the NHS App. This system directs patients to appropriate services, such as a pharmacy, GP surgery, A&E, or community service, based on responses to a series of questions that adapt to the patient’s input. A trial at a GP practice in Sussex reportedly reduced morning phone queues by 29%. Following this, the tool is being made available to more than 200,000 patients, with a broader rollout planned for all app users by April 2028. NHS England has confirmed that traditional methods of contacting GP practices will remain available for patients who prefer them.

Administrative capacity is being targeted through the implementation of ambient voice technology, which records patient-clinician conversations to generate real-time transcripts and clinical summaries. This technology is currently being deployed across four NHS trusts in south-west London: St George’s, Epsom and St Helier, Croydon, and Kingston and Richmond. A pilot in the emergency department at St George’s Hospital found that the software saved clinicians an average of 47 minutes per shift, allowing each member of staff to see an additional patient per shift. Furthermore, over 500,000 NHS staff are being given access to software tools, including Microsoft Copilot, which have demonstrated the potential to reduce monthly administrative workloads by an average of two days.

Future Integration and Strategy

The strategic roadmap includes several forthcoming developments for clinical management and patient interaction:

• Virtual Care: Plans to enable online appointments with expert clinicians via the new NHS Online service.
• Patient Records: Introduction of a Single Patient Record to provide specialists with a full medical history.
• Patient Empowerment: New NHS-approved digital tools to help patients manage exercise and rehabilitation for heart and lung conditions.
• Clinical Prioritisation: Continued deployment of software for elective treatment planning, following earlier work in Cheshire and Merseyside, alongside the use of process mining to identify bottlenecks.

"I’m certain the technological innovations I’ve chosen to prioritise will get patients to the right care faster, free our brilliant clinicians from mountains of paperwork, and help drive down waiting times."

James Murray, Health and Social Care Secretary, via Express

As the service works to address a 7.6 million-strong elective procedure waiting list, officials are prioritizing improvements intended to ensure the service remains viable for its future. The rollout of these tools will continue to be implemented across diverse hospital environments as local leaders are supported in adopting the new systems.