Meet Emma, the AI receptionist stopping you making GP appointments

Another pensioner said it had become “impossible” to get through on the phone because of needing to know the phonetic alphabet, which is not part of the national curriculum or routinely taught.

“I am 72 and this robot wants me to spell my name with the phonetic alphabet,” they said. “How many 70-plus know this? After about 10 attempts at my surname, the robot said it would put me through to a receptionist and then no one answered.”

Another patient told how they spent 10 minutes “like an idiot, spelling out every letter to a robot” that was “AI slop”.

The impact has been greatest on the eldest and those with learning disabilities or speech issues caused by other conditions such as head and neck cancer.

Using AI systems saves GP surgeries time and money, but analysis conducted by patient advocacy group Healthwatch England for The Telegraph has revealed that feedback on the early adoption of AI receptionists has been “wholly negative”.

A complaint made by multiple people was having to provide details of a drug, the dosage, and reason for taking, for every repeat prescription they tried to order, and then having to repeat this for every item if it did not work.

Other people said they were misunderstood, were asked irrelevant questions, or had to redial for more than one request because the chatbot could only process one query at a time.

One man said a chatbot had added a drug they had never heard of or taken before to their prescription, a mistake which “could cost a life”, he said.

No more empathy

A female patient said the AI system had “taken out the personal, professional and empathy side of things” and that “twice I have hung up due to being stressed by the constant duplicated questions. I dread having to call the surgery”.

Another woman said she had “moved doctors because of AI Emma” after an incident that left her husband in A&E and her taking heart medication for too long despite the side effects because of issues getting an appointment.

“If we could have spoken to an actual person we could have explained the issue in more detail,” she said. “We never used to have an issue getting an appointment but after the change it was impossible.”

Pharmacy staff have also told The Telegraph they cannot reach GP surgeries by phone to discuss prescriptions, in particular for patients with “nomad trays” where pharmacists organise drugs for patients who are typically older and taking multiple medications, with the day and time to take them.

Emma, which is owned by Quantum Loop, is just one provider, with similar telephone services supplied by other health-tech companies such as Patchs Health and In Touch Now, as well as a plethora of AI-powered “eConsults”.

William Pett, head of policy, public affairs and research at Healthwatch England, said there were “significant opportunities for AI to improve experience and outcomes for patients” but that the feedback so far “has been concerning”.

“People have told us about chatbots not understanding them, particularly if they have a regional accent or if English is not the patient’s first language,” he said. “These problems are compounded when patients are unable to book an appointment by phone without going through the AI chatbot.”

He added that ensuring patients have choice on how to book appointments and the ability to speak to humans “will be vital over the coming years”.

‘Flexible responses required’

Dennis Reed, director at the over 60s group Silver Voices, said AI “cannot provide the empathetic, flexible responses required in health care”.

“AI replacing human interaction is always annoying and off-putting, but may have uses in mechanical transactions such as retail ordering,” he said. “Older people have enough difficulty describing their intimate symptoms to receptionists in person, and many will refuse point blank to do so to a computer programme, with no idea who is going to view this information and how it will be stored.”

The NHS and regulators are yet to catch up with the explosion in AI tools being used across the health service, with frameworks and national standards for their use yet to be set.

The surge in use comes off the back of the Government’s digital push, which has made online bookings mandatory.

Wes Streeting, the health secretary, has pledged to “fix the front door to the NHS” by improving access to GPs, which remains the public’s number one priority for the health service.

An NHS spokesman said: “Patients should be able to contact their GP practice by phone, online and in person – and GP practices must carefully assess the impact on patients of any new systems they introduce, including those using AI, while ensuring they meet clinical safety standards.

“Alternative methods of contact should also continue to remain available for those who need them.”

Quantum Loop has been approached for comment.