How One Care gave GP clinicians headspace to listen
Giulia Pedrazzini
7 April 2026•4 min read••
One Care × Heidi
One Care, the GP federation for Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire (BNSSG), ran an 18-month pilot of Heidi across 55 practices. In the end-of-pilot survey, 74% of responding clinicians said ambient voice technology (AVT) had a positive impact on their interactions with patients.
Key outcomes:
74% of responding clinicians reported a positive impact on patient interactions
44% of respondents reported feeling less overwhelmed at work after they started using AVT
About 4 in 5 respondents said they would keep using AVT
“These results show how technology can give clinicians capacity back while helping them stay focused on the patient in front of them.” - Morgan Daly, Deputy Digital Director (Transformation), One Care
Practices across BNSSG were handling growing patient demand while trying to keep their staff. Administration was following clinicians home. Morgan Daly heard it from the federation’s 66 member practices.
“We knew GP staff were regularly working beyond their contracted hours to complete consultation notes, referrals, correspondence and record-keeping, at immense risk to their wellbeing and mental health.”
Morgan Daly
Deputy Digital Director (Transformation) at One Care
At the start of the pilot, One Care surveyed 250 respondents to set a baseline:
77% said documentation hurt their ability to engage with patients to some degree
70% spent time on documentation outside working hours at least some of the time
58% felt often or always overwhelmed by the documentation required in visits
56% felt often or always rushed in visits because of documentation
The pilot
One Care wanted to find out whether ambient AI could change that experience at scale. Working with Heidi, it opened a structured pilot to clinical and non-clinical colleagues in 55 of its 66 member practices. The programme tested whether the benefits held across a large group, how to adopt the tool safely with value for money, and whether it reduced time on administration while protecting quality, safety and staff wellbeing.
One Care acted as the day-to-day link between Heidi and the practices, and gave each practice hands-on support throughout.
Safety and governance
Safety sat at the centre of the pilot. One Care built hazard logs and ran six-weekly review sessions for clinicians. In those sessions, the team tracked accuracy and the connection to clinical systems, which showed where Heidi performed well and where it needed to improve.
Clinicians reviewed and approved every note before it entered the patient record. Clinical responsibility stayed with the clinician at all times. EMIS integration and accuracy remained key areas for improvement in end-of-pilot feedback.
Results
Patient interactions
Clinicians described looking up from their screens, keeping eye contact and listening without typing. Several said they could focus on the patient instead of trying to capture every detail. One advanced nurse practitioner called the tool “life-changing”, saying it freed up time during the working day and made daily administration easier.
Documentation pressure
Comparing the baseline survey with the end-of-pilot survey, the share of respondents feeling often or always overwhelmed by documentation fell from 58% to 14%. Those feeling often or always rushed fell from 56% to 16%. Documentation time in multi-problem visits fell from 3.66 minutes to around 2.6 minutes. In the end-of-pilot survey, 44% of respondents said they felt less overwhelmed at work after they started using AVT.
Evenings
Some participants described less documentation to finish after the working day. Daly heard from GPs and nursing staff who used to stay until eight, nine or 10pm catching up on notes.
“They are now able to leave on time and get home to their families.”
Morgan Daly
Deputy Digital Director (Transformation) at One Care
Energy
Clinicians linked Heidi to less fatigue. They described feeling “lighter” and having more energy at the end of the day.
Adoption
Over half (55%) of respondents used AVT in at least half of their visits, and 40% used it in 76-100% of them. Overall satisfaction averaged around 7.2 out of 10. 44% said AVT exceeded their expectations and a further 23% said it met them.
Beyond the visit room
Use spread past clinical visits and past clinical roles. In the end-of-pilot survey:
83% used Heidi for clinical visit notes
64% used it for documentation including referral letters
46% used it for meeting minutes
39% used it to dictate correspondence
23% used it for HR or appraisal documentation
Heidi became part of the working day for practice teams. Some clinicians said losing access would be a “significant step backwards”.
“This is what we want AI in healthcare to do. Instead of adding another task, another system or another screen, it should take work off clinicians’ plates so they have more capacity for the parts of care only humans can do. One Care has shown this is about more than saving time. Clinicians now get the headspace to listen, notice and connect with their patients, while taking some of the pressure out of their working day.”
Dr Hannah Allen
Chief Medical Officer at Heidi Health
About this evaluation
The pilot was a practical evaluation of how useful AVT was to practices and how colleagues would use it. The baseline survey received 250 responses and the end-of-pilot survey received 109. The surveys were not matched to the same individuals, so the figures show overall pilot trends and not change for any one person. Patient interaction findings reflect clinicians’ own reports, not patient feedback.
