In a letter seen by Sky News, NHS bosses wrote to doctors to warn that unapproved software that breached minimum standards could harm patients.

The letter, from the national chief clinical information officer of NHS England, said: ‘We are now aware of a number of AVT [Ambient Voice Technology] solutions which, despite being non-compliant ... are still being widely used in clinical practice.

‘Several AVT suppliers are approaching NHS organisations ... many of these vendors have not complied with basic NHS governance standards.

‘Proceeding with non-compliant solutions risks clinical safety, data protection breaches, financial exposure, and fragmentation of broader NHS digital strategy.'

An NHS spokesperson told Sky: ‘Ambient Voice Technology has the potential to transform care and improve efficiency and in April, the NHS issued guidance to support its use in a safe and secure way.

‘We are working with NHS organisations and suppliers to ensure that all Ambient Voice Technology products used across the health service continue to be compliant with NHS standards on clinical safety and data security.'

In response, Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, told the broadcaster: ‘My own view is that the government should help in terms of the procurement decisions that trusts make and should advise on which AI systems - as we do with other forms of technology that we use in medicine - which ones are safe.

‘We'll need [government] to do a bit more to guide the NHS in the best way to use this.'

 

Dr David Wrigley, deputy chair of the British Medical Association's GP committee, added: ‘We need that help and support from those who can check that the products are safe, check they're secure, that they're suitable for use in the consulting room, and NHS England should do that and help and support us.'

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Dr Whiteley, a former GP and founder and managing director of medtech firm Lexacom, said: ‘The NHS must take a strong stance. AI should never come at the cost of patient safety or data security – there is a crucial part for technology to play in improving efficiency in the NHS, but there has to be guardrails, and compliance is key. For example, solutions that automatically redact confidential information before any AI processing occurs must be used.'