AI technology is making waves in UK general practice surgeries, helping to improve how patients connect with their healthcare providers. One company, InTouchNow.ai, offers software that modernizes phone answering, aiming to cut down wait times and create a smoother experience for both patients and staff. With the NHS facing funding challenges, these innovations could be key to delivering better care without increasing costs.

Streamlining Patient Calls with AI

Many UK GP surgeries struggle with long wait times during busy mornings when patients try to call for appointments or advice. Traditional phone lines often get overwhelmed, causing routine inquiries to clog the system and delaying urgent calls. InTouchNow.ai’s voice-based AI handles multiple calls at once, directing callers to the right service—whether booking appointments, getting prescription updates, or checking test results.

Founded by Daniel Park, who has over 30 years of experience in medical call centers, the system can automatically update appointment schedules and personalize interactions by playing recorded messages. Practices that use this system report fewer missed calls, less workload for reception staff, and better access for patients, especially during peak hours or outside regular working times.

Multilingual Support and Easy Integration

The software supports over 200 languages and can adapt to different dialects and accents, making it especially useful in multicultural areas like inner cities. This ensures patients who speak different languages can communicate easily, reducing misunderstandings and improving healthcare access.

Being fully software-based, the AI system can operate outside normal hours, helping practices save on staff overtime. It also integrates smoothly with common GP software platforms like Surgery Connect, AWS, and Anima, ensuring patient data stays secure and practices retain full control. This flexibility allows practices to automate routine tasks while maintaining high standards of data protection.

Already, several UK surgeries have adopted InTouchNow.ai and reported positive results, including faster call handling and improved patient access. These innovations are part of a broader move to use AI to make healthcare more efficient and responsive, especially important in a system often stretched thin by funding constraints.

A broader push for AI in NHS services

The UK’s National Health Service (NHS), often underfunded, has been quick to adopt AI tools to cut costs and improve service delivery. One example is Smart Triage, an AI system that helps patients make initial inquiries and guides them to the appropriate care pathway—be it a GP, nurse, or specialist referral. In a recent trial in Surrey, Smart Triage cut patient waiting times by 73%, demonstrating its potential to reduce delays and improve patient flow.

Another AI platform, iatroX, supports clinicians by providing quick access to evidence-based guidance and relevant medical literature. This tool helps GPs assess complex or uncommon symptoms more accurately, which is especially useful when specialist knowledge is limited. Evaluations in 2024 and 2025 showed that most doctors found iatroX useful, indicating its potential to enhance clinical decision-making and patient safety.

Overall, these AI-powered solutions are helping UK healthcare providers to operate more efficiently and focus more time on direct patient care. As technology continues to evolve, AI could play an even greater role in shaping the future of primary healthcare across the country.

Inspired by

• https://www.artificialintelligence-news.com/news/medical-ai-in-the-uk-doctors-clinicians-surgeries-and-general-administrative-workloads/

Sources

• intouchnow.ai
• healthinnovation-kss.com
• arxiv.org
• ai-expo.net
• techexevent.com