Ambient Voice Technology

No. AVT used in the NHS is designed specifically for healthcare settings. It is not the same as public AI tools. It follows strict NHS standards for safety, privacy, and clinical use.

Your data is never used to train or improve the tool.

Yes. If you prefer not to have AVT used in your consultation, please let the clinician know. You can still have your appointment, and your clinician will take notes in the usual way.

No. The AVT we use at Frome Medical Practice never records or stores audio.

The technology types up notes as you speak to create a transcript of the conversation.

No audio is recorded. The transcript of your consultation is only available to the clinician you had your consultation with.

The note produced will be transferred to your electronic health record. This is only available to authorised NHS staff involved in your care.

The transcript is stored securely within the technology for 90 days before being deleted.

The note will be saved to your electronic health record and retained in line with the Records Management Code of Practice.

Your data is stored securely within the UK, using systems that meet UK and NHS data protection standards.

All information is encrypted and protected to keep it safe from unauthorised access.

The use of AVT at Frome Medical Practice has been reviewed and approved by our Data Protection Officer and Information Governance team.

No identifiable information is processed outside of the UK. Some anonymous or statistical data may be stored and processed outside of the UK, but only under strict conditions to comply with UK data protection laws.

You can see a copy of the notes from your consultation at any time within the NHS app.

If you would like to see a copy of the transcript produced by the AVT you can submit a Subject Access Request. Please note that transcripts are deleted after 90 days.

If you notice anything in your record that doesn’t seem right, you can speak to the practice. We can review and update the notes if needed.

AVT is designed to capture important medical details accurately, including symptoms, treatments, and follow-up plans.

The technology uses advanced speech recognition to understand different accents, filter out small talk, and focus on clinical information. It has been shown to reduce errors and improve the quality of documentation.

The notes are never added to your medical record without being reviewed. Your clinician always checks and approves the notes to make sure they are correct and complete before they are saved.

One of the benefits of AVT is that it allows your clinician to focus more on you during the consultation. They will still speak with you directly and concentrate on your care.

AVT supports the conversation - it doesn’t replace it.

AVT can be used both in person and over the phone. It wont be used in every consultation, only those where the clinician feels it is supportive of note taking.

We recommend all clinicians let patients know if they would like to use AVT.

Frome Medical Practice is committed to the NHS’s Greener Agenda and reducing its environmental impact. Whilst we recognise that the use of AI can often be energy and water intensive to train and run, using AVT helps us work more efficiently, saving time and resources. Early results show that AVT actually reduces the carbon footprint of clinical documentation by cutting down on time spent typing notes.

For example, initial findings show that AVT has helped us:

• Reallocate approximately 2.4 kg CO₂e per consultation from note-taking to time spent directly with patients
• Reduce clinician note-taking time outside consultations from around 30 minutes to 24 minutes, saving 7.5 kg CO₂e per clinician, on average
• Make a net positive contribution to our environmental goals, based on current usage

We’re continuing to monitor these outcomes and build our understanding of the carbon impact.

We also work closely with our technology partners to ensure responsible data practices.