AI receptionist could not understand me, says Doncaster stroke patient

A woman recovering from a stroke has said she was "upset and frustrated" that an AI reception service at her GP surgery could not understand her, prompting her to register elsewhere.

The ASA surgery at Armthorpe near Doncaster was one of many facilities using a nationwide AI system called EMMA to prevent long wait times on the phone.

Judith Butterfield, 71, said after her stroke she attempted to book a GP appointment five times but could not get past the AI service.

Practice manager Claire Oxley said the EMMA service had been "decommissioned" at Armthorpe and was no longer used at the surgery.

Butterfield originally spent two months at Doncaster Royal Infirmary following a stroke in January.

It primarily affected the strength and mobility down the right side of her body and left her speech fragmented.

The grandmother said that the issues with EMMA were compounded because the AI service asked patients not to use speakerphone.

Butterfield said: "I need to hold the phone in my left hand but I can't use the keypad now with my right hand so what am I supposed to do?

"It's not appropriate as a service to have a robot taking details.

"It should be a more personal thing where you're talking to a person and asking questions.

"There was a point in the conversation where I had to repeat my name and she just couldn't understand me.

"If it's a person they can say, 'could you spell that?' But the call just dropped off. It was very difficult and upsetting."

After growing frustrated with the AI service at Armthorpe, the former HR worker has now registered with the Burns Practice in Doncaster.

"They have very good, friendly, helpful receptionists," she said.

"There's still the wait when you phone up and you're in a queue but you can use a call-back service.

"I was amazed when I spoke to a person."

According to the watchdog Healthwatch, Butterfield's experience is not unique with other Yorkshire patients struggling to be understood by AI reception services.

Oxley said: "I am sorry to hear this patient encountered difficulties and felt the need to move to another surgery.

"I can confirm the AI EMMA service has been decommissioned and the practice are no longer using this system.

"We would welcome the patient back to the surgery and I can assure this lady and others that we have successfully recruited more reception staff to help improve our service to patients."

A spokesperson for QuantumLoopAI, the company behind the system, said: "We are sorry to hear about this patient's experience.

"Nobody should feel they have to change practice to be heard, and with her consent we would welcome the chance to look into what happened and help put it right."

The company said every practice using EMMA could set up "priority routing", allowing patients to go "straight through to the reception team on every call".

Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds , catch up with the latest episode of Look North

AI GP receptionist 'can't understand Yorkshire accent'