'North West London Integrated Care Board is exploring the adoption of AI-powered ambient scribe technology—also known as AI scribes—to support clinicians by automatically transcribing consultations into accurate clinical notes. These tools can streamline consultation workflows, reduce administrative burden, and allow clinicians to devote more attention to patients. However, they also raise important considerations around clinical safety, data protection, regulatory compliance, and integration with NHS systems. The ICB follows NHS England to ensure any deployment is safe, compliant, and beneficial.
All AI scribe tools must undergo clinical safety assessments in line with NHS digital safety standards (DCB0129 for supplier assurance and DCB0160 for implementation). This includes hazard logs, risk assessment, a clinical safety case, and ongoing monitoring to ensure that transcription errors don’t affect patient care. Practices must appoint a clinical safety officer and complete a DCB0160 dossier before deployment.'
Heidi Health is an AI-powered medical scribe platform that listens to clinician–patient conversations and instantly generates structured clinical notes, referral letters, billing codes, and other documentation—enabling clinicians to reclaim time and focus on patient care
Official website: heidihealth.com heidihealth.com
Medical device class: Heidi is registered with the UK’s MHRA as a Class I medical device for its summarisation functionality; it does not produce diagnoses or autonomous clinical decisions
Tortus AI is a UK-developed ambient scribe platform that passively listens to clinician–patient consultations and generates structured clinical notes, referral letters, and medical codes in real time—ready for clinician review. It is designed to streamline documentation and enhance face-to-face time with patients l
Official website: tortus.ai
Medical device classification: Tortus is currently registered as a UK CA Class I medical device with the MHRA and is actively pursuing Class IIa status to secure a higher level of regulatory oversight
Anima Scribe (by Anima Health) is a UK-designed AI ambient scribe tailored for primary care workflows. It passively listens to clinician–patient consultations and instantly produces detailed, structured clinical notes, along with referral letters, clinical codes, and suggested follow-up tasks—all saved to EMIS or SystmOne with a single click
Official website: animahealth.com
Medical device classification: Anima Scribe (aka “Annie”) is registered with the MHRA as a Class I medical device