A new online community to shape ambient voice technology in health and care
About 3 mins
In recent months, ambient voice technology (AVT) – sometimes referred to as a ‘digital scribe’ – has captured headlines across the UK health care sector and is repeatedly referenced in the 10-Year Health Plan.
Promising to reduce the burden of clinical documentation and free up staff time for patient care, AVT is being hailed as a potential game-changer. But as with any innovation, the promise must be matched by sound evidence about both possible benefits and unintended consequences. It also requires sound understanding of how AVT can be implemented wisely and well, and what it will take to work optimally in practice. That means deep engagement and co-design with those working with AVT from the clinic to the boardroom.
That’s why we’ve launched AVID – the Ambient Voice Innovation and Development community – a space for NHS staff and others to come together to shape the future of AVT in health and care.
Why this matters now
The NHS is under extraordinary pressure. Workforce shortages, rising demand and the complexity of care delivery are converging to create a system in need of bold, thoughtful reform. Technologies like AVT offer hope, but only if they work for the people who matter most: staff and patients. We need more than hype; we need rigorous, inclusive and transparent evaluation. To make sure AVT truly benefits patients and staff, it’s vital we explore its use thoughtfully – with evidence, insight and collaboration. That’s where AVID comes in.
Why an online community?
AVID was born from a vision outlined in NHS England guidance on the use of AI-enabled ambient scribing products, published in April 2025. Recognising the need for shared learning and collaboration, the guidance called for the creation of a community of practice to share insights and best practice among sites implementing scribing technologies.
A community of practice (CoP) is not just another working group or advisory panel. It’s a living, breathing network of people who share an interest and want to learn together through regular interaction. CoPs offer something unique: they foster trust, shared learning and collective problem-solving. In health care, where the stakes are high and the challenges complex, CoPs provide a vital way of surfacing real-world insights and ideas and building consensus, with a proven track record.
CoPs are bottom-up, inclusive and adaptive. They allow diverse voices to be heard – whether they’re those working directly with patients, planning or overseeing rollout, or evaluating what’s happening. In the case of AVT, this is essential. We need to understand not just whether the technology works, but how it feels, what it changes and what it risks.
How does AVID work?
AVID brings together people across the NHS and beyond to:
- share learning, experiences and best practice relating to AVT implementation
- support real-world piloting and evaluation of AVT implementation
- explore wider implications (eg ethical, safety and equity)
AVID is run independently by THIS Institute, in partnership with the Health Foundation. Hosted on the Thiscovery platform, it offers an intuitive, social media-like interface with opportunities for collaboration and sharing.
As part of its launch, AVID is being used to support a service evaluation of a pilot of AVT at a single trust. The pilot seeks real-time staff engagement, feedback, logic model and workflow co-design, and process evaluation alongside time-and-motion data. The intention is that the methods will, subject to testing, be made available to others so support high-quality local evaluation.
Join AVID
AVID is an online community created to support those who are shaping the future of AVT in health and care, including those planning or using AVT in their organisations. This is your space to collaborate, share insights and help guide how AVT is developed, piloted, implemented, and evaluated across the NHS.
AVID is more than a platform – it’s a growing community committed to shaping the future of ambient voice technology in health and care. If you’d like to join the community, visit ths.im/joinavid to register.
Mary Dixon-Woods is Director of THIS Institute and the Health Foundation Professor of Healthcare Improvement Studies in the Department of Public Health and Primary Care at the University of Cambridge.