AI and ambient voice technology (AVT) will be rolled out under the Neighbourhood Health Service to improve the productivity of GP practices, according to the government’s framework.
Prime minister Keir Starmer announced the launch of a Neighbourhood Health Service in July 2026 as part of the government’s NHS 10 year health plan.
The ‘Neighbourhood health framework‘, published on 17 March, sets out guidelines for how the service will bring together GP services with a mix of community, local authority and civil society sector services to join up care and reduce pressure on other parts of the system.
It states that “a strong digital approach” will be critical to orientating services around a person’s needs, rather than “organisational convenience”.
This includes plans for the NHS to improve the productivity of GP practices by “increasing the use of technology to free up clinical time and assist flow” through the rollout of AI and AVT and expansion of AI-assisted triage pilots.
Access to online consultation tools will be embedded through the NHS App and the app will become the default for messaging and push notifications from practices.
In a foreword, Stephen Kinnock, minister for care, said: “We expect this to be a truly collaborative effort between all partners, combining the NHS’s responsibility for our health services with local authorities’ responsibility for adult and children’s social care services and public health.
“This will foster a true partnership for the benefit of all citizens to ensure we achieve the left shift from hospital to community, and sickness to prevention.”
The framework highlights the importance of new electronic health records for GPs to increase access to shared care records and for technology to support collaboration across neighbourhood teams.
Data are expected to support proactive care, helping systems to effectively manage risk and prevent escalation.
“Systems will make the NHS work around the needs of the individual, not the other way round, by improving data sharing between hospitals and neighbourhood health services, including social care,” the framework says.
It also includes plans to expand the capacity and efficiency of virtual wards to enable more care to be delivered at home and in community settings, “so people don’t have to attend hospital unnecessarily”.
Commenting on the plans, Dr Harpreet Sood, GP partner at The Hurley Group and advisor at The Access Group, welcomed the focus on improving GP access through digital.
“Arguably, in many practices, AI-assisted triage and AVTs are already in use, so while the direction of travel is right, the focus must be on scaling the safe and responsible adoption of tools that have undergone the necessary MHRA regulation and ensuring equity across primary care.
“Only then will we see tangible benefits in tackling workforce capacity and meeting patient demand.
“We also can’t forget that GPs are part of multi-disciplinary teams. For the new operating model to succeed, GP systems need to connect with community nursing, social care and voluntary-sector platforms, so information flows both ways – not just upward into large regional systems and the NHS App,” he said
