NHS England has rolled out an AI tool designed to streamline patient discharge summaries at two London hospital trusts. The Artificial Intelligence Assisted Discharge Summary (AI Assisted DSUM) product is now live at Central and North West London and Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trusts.
The AI Assisted DSUM assists clinicians by synthesizing information from medical records to create draft discharge summary letters. Jonathan Orritt, Deputy Director of Artificial Intelligence Delivery at NHS England, explained that the tool uses large language models like Claude and ChatGPT to generate parts of the summary, with clinicians remaining heavily involved in the review process.
This initiative aims to enhance the quality and consistency of discharge summaries, ultimately improving patient care. Orritt noted that the AI Assisted DSUM marks the first AI medical device manufactured by NHS England.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting stated that this tool exemplifies the shift towards digital healthcare as part of the 10-Year Health Plan. The goal is to reduce administrative burdens for doctors, allowing them more time with patients and freeing up hospital beds. This deployment is part of a larger governmental effort to integrate AI into public services, including other projects focused on consultation notes, demand forecasting, and diagnostic aids.