‘From taboo to tool’: 30% of GPs in UK use AI tools in patient consultations, study finds

The Guardian - World NewsEN 3 min read 100% complete by Denis Campbell Health policy editorDecember 3, 2025 at 08:07 PM

AI Summary

medium article 3 min

A recent Nuffield Trust study reveals that approximately 30% of UK general practitioners (GPs) are using AI tools like ChatGPT during patient consultations. This adoption is driven by the desire to ease workloads through tasks like summarizing appointments and assisting with diagnoses. However, the rapid integration of AI is occurring amidst a lack of national regulation, creating uncertainty among GPs about the safety and reliability of available tools. Concerns exist regarding potential clinical errors, data security breaches, and medico-legal liabilities. While the government hopes AI will free up time for GPs to see more patients, the study indicates that saved time is primarily used for self-care and reducing burnout.

Key Entities & Roles

Key Player Opposition Context

United Kingdom ×260% Nuffield Trust 70% Royal College of GPs ×280%

Keywords

artificial intelligence 100% general practitioners 90% patient consultations 80% ai tools 80% clinical errors 60% data security 60% regulation 50% professional liability 50% nhs 50% gp workload 40%

Sentiment Analysis

Negative

Score: -0.30

Source Transparency

Source

The Guardian - World News

Classification Confidence

90%

Geographic Perspective

This article was automatically classified using rule-based analysis.

Topic Connections

Explore how the topics in this article connect to other news stories

Network visualization showing 51 related topics

View Full Graph

artificial intelligence general practitioners patient consultations ai tools clinical errors data security regulation professional liability nhs gp workload

Explore Full Topic Graph

Find Similar Articles

AI-Powered

Discover articles with similar content using semantic similarity analysis.