Corti Pilot Project

Improving Clinical Documentation Through Ambient Voice Technology

NHS Grampian is piloting an innovative digital tool called Corti to explore how ambient voice technology can support clinical staff and improve patient experience.
Corti is designed to help doctors and nurses spend less time on administrative tasks and more time with patients. During clinical conversations, the technology listens securely and creates a written summary that can be used to support clinical record‑keeping. This summary is reviewed and checked by clinical staff to ensure it is accurate and appropriate before being added to the patient record.

What is the pilot aiming to do?

The pilot is a time‑limited, small‑scale evaluation to understand whether ambient voice technology like Corti can be safely, acceptably and effectively used in a real clinical setting. It is focused on nursing admission and inpatient assessments, where documentation can be particularly time‑intensive.

Specifically, the pilot will explore whether the technology:

• Supports accurate and reliable clinical documentation
• Reduces the administrative burden on staff
• Improves communication between staff and patients
• Helps patients feel more involved in their care
• Is acceptable and easy to use for both patients and staff

Why is this important?

Across the NHS, staff face increasing pressures from workforce shortages and rising demand. Manual documentation can take up significant clinical time and contribute to stress and burnout. Exploring safe, evidence‑based uses of digital technology is one way NHS Grampian is seeking to support staff, protect patient experience, and improve the sustainability of services.
This pilot will help determine whether ambient voice technology has a future role within NHS Grampian and will inform decisions about wider evaluation or adoption in the future.

Where is the pilot taking place?

The pilot is being carried out on Donbank Ward at Inverurie Hospital, with adult inpatients who choose to take part. Participation is entirely voluntary, and patients can opt out at any time without this affecting their care.
A copy of the Corti project privacy notice can be found here: corti_ai_pilot_study-privacy_notice.pdf

How are patients involved?

If a patient agrees to take part, their conversation with a nurse during admission or routine assessments may be recorded using Corti. The nurse will always:

• Explain the pilot and ask for consent
• Review the generated summary with the patient
• Make any changes needed before the information is saved

How is data handled?

Patient confidentiality and information governance are central to the pilot. Audio recordings are managed securely by NHS Grampian and shared with Corti only for the purposes of improving the quality of the summaries. No additional personal data is shared beyond what is spoken during the clinical conversation, and recordings are deleted once the testing period is complete.