Artificial intelligence will be used on the NHS app to determine which service is most appropriate for patients in England, the health service has announced.
A new triage tool will ask patients a series of questions, and will use the responses to direct them to a GP appointment, pharmacy, A&E, community service or offer self-care advice.
NHS England said the update would reach more than 200,000 patients in the next 12 months and be available to all app users by April 2028 as part of a “major overhaul” of its technology.
The rollout has been largely welcomed, but some health bodies urged the NHS to prioritise patient safety, confidentiality and inclusion as it grows more reliant on AI.
An initial trial of the tool at Wealden Ridge Medical Partnership in Sussex saw a 29% reduction in the number of people queuing on the phone for an appointment.
Dr Ragu Rajan, who works at the practice, said integrating the tool “means our patients can tell us what they need, when they need it, and be directed to the right care first time.
“It hasn’t replaced our judgement – it’s given us back the time to use it.”
Sir Jim Mackey, chief executive of NHS England, said the tool would “help get patients to the best service for their needs first time… so that clinicians can make sure those most in need of a GP appointment can get one sooner”.
It comes as part of a £10bn investment, allocated by the government in 2025, to overhaul the NHS’s technology, digital and data systems.
There will also be an England-wide rollout of AI tools that record conversations between patients and NHS staff to generate real-time transcriptions and clinical summaries.
It will start with hospital appointments not requiring an overnight stay at four NHS trusts in and around London – St George’s, Epsom and St Helier, Croydon, and Kingston and Richmond.
Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust in Liverpool and Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust are also expanding their AI notetaking programmes.
A trial led by Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and carried out across nine NHS sites in London found NHS staff spent almost 25% more of their time interacting with patients when using the notetaking technology.
The Royal College of Nursing’s chief nursing officer, Prof Lynn Woolsey, said the rollout could mark “an important step in upgrading technology in the NHS” and “ease the administrative burden on nursing staff”.
But she also emphasised that patient safety and confidentiality must be at the “heart of any AI triage system, with a guarantee that a health professional will be the one making decisions at key points in that process”.
Pritesh Mistry, fellow at the King’s Fund think-tank, said the announcement “could help turbo-charge improvements in how [the] NHS uses modern technology to deliver better care for patients”.
“People should find it easier to have support at the right time and in a way that best suits them, digitally or physically,” she added.
“And this means the NHS will need to keep a strong focus on ensuring that people are not digitally excluded as clinical services become increasingly reliant on technology.”
Conservative shadow health secretary Stuart Andrew said: “Any innovation that improves patient care and helps the NHS work more effectively should be welcomed. But new technology must be introduced with a fully-funded plan that delivers value for taxpayers.”