AI agents could save NHS GBP £75 million & free up appointments
A new report from OneAdvanced outlines how the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) agents in GP practices could help the NHS save GBP £75 million a year and provide up to 150,000 additional GP appointments each week.
The study focuses on two AI agents developed by OneAdvanced, the Clinical Coding Agent and the Clinical Summarisation Agent, which automate the management and processing of incoming clinical documents in primary care settings.
This analysis comes at a time when NHS resources are under considerable strain, with increasing demand for GP services and a declining number of practices. Administrative tasks, particularly paperwork, are acknowledged as a significant part of NHS workload, often consuming several hours of a GP's day. OneAdvanced's report suggests that automation technology can help alleviate these pressures and retrieve time for patient-facing activities.
The Clinical Coding Agent and Clinical Summarisation Agent have been piloted in a sample of 143 GP practices. According to the report, 95% of users within these practices observed improved workflows and significant time savings during the early adoption phase.
The Clinical Coding Agent works by proposing accurate SNOMED codes to enhance the quality of patient records, while the Clinical Summarisation Agent extracts crucial information, offering concise correspondence summaries for staff review. Both operate on OneAdvanced's established GP Document Workflow software, previously known as Docman, which is already utilised by over 2,500 GP practices in the UK.
Administrative burden
The findings emphasise the significant time consumed by document management in GP practices and highlight automation's potential to free up clinical staff for patient care. The deployment of the AI agents is projected to release the equivalent of 150,000 additional GP consultations each week across England.
By embedding AI Agents into the system practices already rely on and trust, we're giving GPs the tools to work smarter, not harder - delivering measurable benefits to both the NHS and patients.
This perspective was shared by Ric Thompson, Senior Vice President of Health & Care at OneAdvanced, who underscored the anticipated productivity improvements without imposing additional burdens on GPs.
Dr Paul Wright, Medical Director and Chief Clinical Information Officer at OneAdvanced as well as a practising GP, provided insights from a clinical perspective.
As a GP, I know first-hand the strain practices are under with rising demand and growing admin. These Agents were built with clinicians to ensure they genuinely ease workload. The ability to code and summarise correspondence automatically means we can spend more time with patients, and less time on paperwork.
OneAdvanced claims its AI-driven approach is consistent with the NHS's 10-year transformation initiative, which is aimed at improving outcomes and operational efficiency through technological advancement. The company reported that its software now supports more than 40 million patients yearly, working with over 4,000 GP practices and 160 NHS Trusts.
Report findings
The full report, available from OneAdvanced, provides details on the projected GBP £75 million in annual savings. The calculations are based on time savings from administrative automation and the redeployment of this time into additional appointments. The findings are expected to contribute to ongoing discussions about the future of administrative processes and the role of technology in British healthcare.
The report also indicates that, beyond financial and capacity returns, automating routine administrative tasks can improve the accuracy and consistency of clinical records, supporting better continuity of care for patients.
OneAdvanced stated that its team of clinicians and technologists collaborated closely to develop the agents, aiming to address challenges identified by both frontline doctors and administrative staff.
