The trial, which will continue until mid-May, is taking place in Inverurie Hospital's Donbank Ward, where 13 staff nurses and consenting patients are helping to test how well this type of technology works in a real clinical setting.

Built on healthcare AI platform Corti, the software can listen to conversations between nurses, patients, and families, and then automatically generate structured clinical notes. These are checked and edited by the nurses, who are helping it to learn the local Doric dialect. 

The system is being used during admission assessments, as well as during twice-daily clinical assessments. Nurses have reported the technology is prompting deeper conversations, and that some patients have shared personal reflections and emotional concerns they may not previously have voiced. They say it can halve the time they spend writing notes, helps them feel more present and improves the depth and quality of information handed over between shifts.

Senior charge nurse Katie Anderson, clinical lead for the pilot, said: ‘It makes a real difference when patients feel someone is really listening to them. And it helps us record the patient journey much more accurately. Some members of the team who were most apprehensive at the start of the pilot are now the most engaged. We used to have to try and remember what was said during observations and record this in notes later. Using the tech frees up mind space so we can have a really good conversation.'

The three-month evaluation will inform whether this type of innovative technology can help the NHS reduce the administrative workload for health care professionals and improve care and efficiency. 

Rebecca Thomson, project support officer for NHS Grampian's Innovation Hub team, explained: ‘Our pilot with Corti aims to explore whether ambient voice technology can help address the huge administration burden affecting our NHS.

'By recording and automatically summarising conversations with patients, the technology enables staff to deliver more person-centred care while maintaining strong clinical oversight and patient safety. Corti has been developed specifically with healthcare in mind and we are excited to see the potential benefit the system can provide to our teams across Grampian.'