Top surgeon reveals how tech could save the NHS hundreds of millions of pounds
Artificial intelligence is no longer a sci-fi fantasy or a Silicon Valley buzzword. It's already in the operating theatre, already in the consultation room, and according to one of London's top facial plastic surgeons, it's about to save the NHS.
Dr Anil Joshi has fixed thousands of faces in his clinic – noses, jaws, the lot – and now he reckons the same technology reshaping his clinic could rescue a health service that's been gasping under mountains of paperwork for decades. The man knows his stuff, and he's calling AI the biggest disruption to hit medicine since computers.
"AI is something we need to embrace, adapt to our work, and take forward. It's exciting, and it's going to be incredibly helpful."
THE PAPERWORK PROBLEM SOLVED
One of the dullest but most damaging problems in modern healthcare is admin. Doctors spend half their day writing notes instead of treating people. Nurses buried in letters. Appointment slots burned on box-ticking.
AI is already killing that off. In Dr Joshi's own clinic, AI-powered transcription software records consultations in real time, turning the whole conversation into a polished medical letter in about ten seconds.
"In the past, I'd be writing notes while speaking to a patient, which meant losing the connection," he explains. "Now, I just press a button, have a natural conversation, and within 10 seconds I have a full clinic letter."
The system's smart enough to filter out the small talk too, so only the medically relevant bits make the cut. The knock-on effect is huge: secretaries who used to spend hours typing letters can now focus on things that actually matter, and patients get a better experience as a result.
THE NHS IS FINALLY MOVING
Dr Joshi reckons this kind of tech, once fully rolled out across the NHS, could save the service hundreds of millions of pounds every year – and the numbers back him up. A major NHS England-sponsored study, led by Great Ormond Street Hospital, found that AI-scribing technology has the potential to unlock £834 million a year if rolled out nationally. The trial, run across nine NHS sites, recorded a 23.5% increase in direct patient interaction time and an 8.2% reduction in appointment length. In A&E, the numbers showed a 13.4% increase in patients seen per shift.AI transformation units are being set up across departments.
The tech is being trialled to speed up everything from hospital discharges to patient admin. And NHS England is actively pushing AI scribing tools into clinical settings as a national priority. One partnership alone – between Accurx and Tandem Health – is set to bring AI ambient scribing to more than 200,000 NHS staff.
"There's still a long way to go – with training, funding and integration – but the process is definitely in motion," says Dr Joshi.
His prediction? Once this stuff rolls out properly, it'll free up clinicians to spend more time actually caring for patients, rather than drowning in paperwork.
ROBOTS IN THE OPERATING THEATRE? NOT QUITE
Before you picture a Terminator with a scalpel, calm down. Dr Joshi is clear that robots aren't taking over the operating theatre anytime soon. But they are making surgeons better at the tricky stuff.
He points to robotic-assisted procedures in areas of the body that are genuinely difficult for human hands to reach, like the base of the tongue.
"In the past, we would have had to open the jaw to access certain tumours," he explains. "Now, robotic arms can reach those areas with far less disruption, less pain, and greater precision."
It means less pain for patients and less fatigue for the surgeons doing the work. Everyone wins.
"I wouldn't say AI will take over," he says. "But it will absolutely transform how we operate."
YOUR NOSE, PERSONALISED
AI is also creeping into the aesthetics side of medicine. Dr Joshi and his team are researching how AI could help predict ideal cosmetic outcomes for individual patients, factoring in things like cultural background and regional aesthetic preferences.
"A patient in the UK might prefer a different nose shape to someone in Turkey or Latin America," he says. "We can't apply a one-size-fits-all approach – it has to be bespoke."
The idea is that AI analyses enough data across enough patients to start predicting, accurately, what's going to look right for each person. More precision, less guesswork, better results.
THE VERDICT
So is AI actually making life better? According to Dr Joshi, absolutely.
"It's definitely making my life better," he says. "It saves time, improves accuracy, and allows us to focus on what really matters: the patient."
But he's got a warning for anyone sitting on the fence.
"We have to adapt and move forward. Because if you don't embrace it, you risk being left behind."
The future of medicine isn't humans versus machines. It's humans getting a serious upgrade.