AI-Powered Continuing Healthcare Assessments
How Herefordshire and Worcestershire ICB collaborated with the University of Warwick, IEG4 and Made Purple to transform the CHC assessment process and become the first ICB to use AI for Decision Support Tool writing.
The Challenge
NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) is the process for assessing and funding care for people with complex, ongoing health needs. It is a legal right for eligible individuals, but the assessment process is intensive for clinical staff.
A typical multi-disciplinary team (MDT) meeting involves multiple clinicians discussing a patient's needs across several healthcare domains. After the meeting, a nurse must manually write up the findings into a Decision Support Tool (DST), a process that can take many hours of additional work per assessment.
Nationally, CHC represents a £6.5 billion service with no NICE guidance and significant variation in implementation across ICBs. Teams face pressure to deliver assessments efficiently while maintaining quality and a patient-focused approach. Reduced budgets and limited staff capacity make this increasingly difficult.
Nurse-Led Digital Transformation
A Collaborative Approach
Herefordshire and Worcestershire ICB worked with the Warwick Business School of Innovation and the West Midlands Health and Wellbeing Innovation Network to explore how digital innovation could improve the CHC service. Technology partners were invited to collaborate and co-design a system alongside the CHC team, integrating their technologies into a single workflow.
The result was a fully integrated digital CHC platform combining automatic workflow case management, electronic forms for referrals and the DST, online portals for referrers, providers and patients, and a new software module called "AI Transcribe, Powered by Made Purple" providing AI-powered transcription and summarisation.
For the first time, patients and their families can log in to a dedicated portal and track their CHC cases and assessments in real time rather than waiting for a decision. Operational staff tested the platform in a live environment, comparing performance directly against the existing system.
How It Works
Record the MDT meeting
The multi-disciplinary team meeting is recorded on a tablet device. Clinicians focus entirely on the patient discussion without needing to take manual notes.
Transcript generated
Purple Scribe generates a full transcript from the recording with speaker separation and high accuracy, even in acoustically challenging environments.
AI processes summaries by domain
The AI engine processes the transcript and generates structured summaries for each healthcare domain discussed in the meeting.
Nurse reviews and approves
The assessing nurse reviews and approves Purple Scribe's output directly within their current workflow. No additional steps or systems to learn, just pure efficiency with full editorial control over the final output.
Input into the electronic DST
Approved summaries are input directly into the electronic Decision Support Tool, completing the assessment documentation without hours of manual write-up.
The Results
Measured results from live CHC operations, comparing directly against the previous manual process.
~70%
Process step efficiencies achieved in some areas through automatic workflows, eForms and online portals
4hrs+
Average reported saving per DST write-up as a direct result of introducing Purple Scribe
30%+
Efficiencies expected across the full CHC service when technologies are applied beyond the initial pilot scope
Clinical Control
The AI produces MDT summaries for each healthcare domain directly into the electronic DST. The assessing nurse retains full editorial control at every stage, reviewing and approving all AI-generated content before it is finalised.
First of Its Kind
Herefordshire and Worcestershire ICB was the first ICB in the country to utilise AI for Decision Support Tool writing. The platform is now live and in use across all DST meetings within the ICB.
"Clinical staff could save up to 30% of their administrative time. By automating processes and providing real-time data, we can make more informed decisions."
Simon Trickett
CEO, NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire ICB
"The adoption of AI in continuing healthcare is not just a trend, it's a necessity for the future."
Stephen Ferry
CEO, IEG4
Growing Adoption
What started as a pilot at Herefordshire and Worcestershire ICB is now a live platform in daily use across all DST meetings within the ICB. The partnership between Made Purple and IEG4 has grown, and additional ICBs are now using the platform to achieve significant efficiencies and quality improvements in their CHC assessments.
The average reported saving of over 4 hours per DST write-up means clinical staff are spending significantly less time on documentation and more time focused on patients and their families. With the platform now proven in live operation, it is available for any ICB looking to transform their CHC assessment process.
Find out how your ICB can benefit
Contact our technology partner IEG4 to learn more about the integrated CHC platform, or reach out to us at Made Purple to discuss how Purple Scribe can introduce these efficiencies to your assessments.