Deliver clarity and consistency to care with ambient scribes

A 2024 study published in the British Journal of General Practice found that “GPs spend 14% of their session time documenting consultation notes and updating electronic health records”¹. In practice, this means hours each week are lost to administration rather than patient care.

At the same time, NHS England reports that practices and Primary Care Networks delivered around 31.4 million appointments in March 2025 alone². As demand continues to surge, so too does the pressure on clinicians to keep up with documentation, compliance and clinical coding—all while maintaining high standards of patient engagement.

Too often, valuable face-to-face time with patients is diluted by the need to type notes during consultations. The result? Patients can feel unheard, and clinicians overwhelmed.

This is where the ambient scribe comes into its own.

What is an ambient scribe?

An ambient scribe is an AI-enabled tool that listens to clinical conversations in person or over the phone, and transforms them into structured, coded summaries. These summaries can be directly uploaded into a patient’s medical record, reducing the need for manual documentation and freeing up clinicians to do what they do best: provide care.

Unlike traditional speech-to-text or dictation tools, ambient scribes work silently in the background. The best of them are designed to understand the context of a medical dialogue, extract key information and generate summaries with clinical accuracy and consistency. Some products automatically apply a comprehensive, structured vocabulary for use in electronic health records called ‘Systematised Nomenclature of Medicine Clinical Terms’ (SNOMED CT), improving accuracy and consistency of documentation.

Why primary care needs ambient scribes

As it stands, UK general practice is in the grip of a retention crisis. GP numbers are falling, burnout is rising and demand continues to outpace capacity. Ambient scribe technology offers a way to reduce this burden. By automating note-taking and coding, it allows clinicians to remain fully present during consultations, improving patient experience while safeguarding accuracy and record completeness.

The NHS has already signalled its support, publishing detailed guidance on how to safely and effectively use AI-enabled ambient scribes in health and care settings.

And the benefits of ambient scribe tools are compelling:

Patient-centred care and engagement: GPs can maintain eye contact and be more present during appointments, building a better rapport to ensure patients feel heard which may improve outcomes and satisfaction
Reduces administrative workload: By automating the process of writing up notes and integrating these directly into the clinical system, any duplication of effort is reduced and GPs get valuable time back to focus on patient care and same-day appointments
Supports more balanced working: Ambient scribes reduce the after-hours workload, making the day-to-day work-life balance for GPs and locums more sustainable and appealing
Improves accuracy of clinical documentation: All key clinical details are more likely to be captured during consultations, supporting record accuracy as well as continuity of care
Real-time coding: Ambient scribes support accurate clinical coding, supporting the practice to gather insights for better QOF reporting and billing

Key considerations when choosing an ambient scribe

Real-world adoption depends on how well ambient scribe tools integrate with a practice’s existing systems and tools in order to get the most from them without adding to clinician workload. Not only this, but they need to be able to capture information accurately during appointments in-person but also over the phone, since 19.9% of GP appointments in March 2025 happened over the phone (NHS England)³.

Another critical factor is usability. A solution that interrupts the flow of a consultation or that requires extensive editing after each note, can quickly lose the confidence of clinical teams.

The market for ambient scribe tools is expanding, and products developed outside the UK have entered the space. When considering ambient scribes, data sovereignty and regulatory status matter. Practices are increasingly aware of where patient data is processed and whether tools are registered medical devices under UK law. Under NHS guidance, all Ambient Voice Technology (AVT) solutions should be compliant with NHS standards and if they generate summarisation, require class I medical device status with the MHRA. Trust, safety and transparency are always going to be key elements to any tools used in primary care.

That’s why UK-developed solutions often benefit from being built with NHS workflows, regulation and systems in mind from day one. They’re more likely to support integration with your systems, align with NHS data security standards and adapt to the unique challenges of UK general practice.

Introducing Surgery Intellect, powered by Tortus

Surgery Intellect is a UK-developed ambient scribe that can integrate directly with any digital telephony platform, including X-on Health’s Surgery Connect where it enables real-time transcription and summarisation. Backed by Tortus technology that has UKCA Class I Medical Device status with the MHRA, with Class IIa in progress, Surgery Intellect supports documentation where GPs already are—on phone calls, in-person consultations and across the Electronic Medical Record (EMR). Our approach to safety is guided by TORTUS’s CREOLA (Clinical Review of LLMs and AI) framework, a robust methodology for evaluating clinical safety in AI tools, supporting responsible deployment in frontline care.

Let’s take a look at an example of how Surgery Intellect could be used:

Dr Ahmed works in a busy London practice. He speaks with a patient who’s worried about persistent chest tightness and fatigue. As the consultation unfolds, Dr Ahmed listens actively while Surgery Intellect listens passively, transcribing the conversation in real time.

After the consultation, the patient feels satisfied that Dr Ahmed was entirely present during the consultation and more optimistic about the quality of care they receive. Meanwhile, Surgery Intellect generates a structured clinical summary that includes presenting symptoms, lifestyle context, advice given and follow-up actions. Dr Ahmed reviews the summary, clicks to approve, and the note is instantly filed into the patient record without needing to type a word.

Now imagine this across an entire practice, and the time saved each day starts to add up, with early independent users reporting an average saving of 4 minutes per appointment. GPs can run on schedule. Patients are seen more promptly. Clinical documentation is both thorough and standardised.

That’s the promise of ambient scribe technology done right.

Ambient scribes as part of a broader, voice-enabled future

Surgery Intellect is part of a wider move towards voice technology in healthcare. At X-on Health, we see a future where natural language interfaces support patient triage, manage appointment bookings and even signpost community services—all in real time and via voice for more equitable patient access.

Ambient scribe functionality sits at the heart of this transformation. By capturing and coding conversations across all channels, it enables rich analytics, smarter service planning and faster clinical decisions.

Putting ambient scribes into practice

The ambient scribe is no longer a futuristic idea. It’s a practical tool that’s already improving working conditions in UK general practice.

For patients, it means more personal consultations and confidence in the continuity of care. For GPs, it’s about gaining back valuable minutes, reducing admin and leaving work on time. And for healthcare systems, it’s about efficiency, consistency and accurate insights.

As the NHS continues to invest in AI and digital healthcare tools, ambient scribe technology stands out not just for what it automates, but for what it restores: time, clarity and human connection.

At X-on Health, we’re proud to be part of this movement, helping ensure ambient scribes are designed and built for the realities of primary care in the UK.

Let your consultations speak for themselves with Surgery Intellect, capturing every word so your team doesn’t have to.

Learn more and register interest here