A CREDITON GP practice is introducing an AI telephone triage service in a bid to help staff manage the large volume of calls it receives every day.

Redlands Primary Care has reassured patients that if they don’t want to use “AndI”, they can choose to speak to a human being instead.

AndI works by listening to your request and then sending it directly to the practice’s clinical team.

“From November 17, we’re excited to be introducing AndI, a new AI triage service from Anima, to help make contacting the practice easier and more efficient,” said a Redlands Primary Care spokesperson.

“AndI will initially answer 75 patient calls each day, helping to understand the reason for your call and direct your request appropriately. This will support our practice team in managing the large number of calls we receive every day.

“While AndI is new to us, it is already being used successfully in other GP practices. We’ve spoken directly to practices using the service and have been really encouraged by their experience.

“Importantly, you’ll always have a choice. If you don’t want to use AndI, or would simply feel more comfortable speaking to someone, you can choose to speak to a real person instead.

“We’re really looking forward to introducing AndI and seeing how it can help both our patients and our practice team.

“AndI is here to support our fantastic staff, not replace them, and we’ll be keeping a close eye on how things go and listening to your feedback as we introduce this new service.

“Please be reassured that nothing changes about the care you receive. The new system simply makes it easier and quicker to get your request to the most appropriate team member, helping us get you the care or information you need faster and more efficiently.”