Milton Keynes University Hospital’s (MKUH) Ophthalmology department is trialling a new conversational AI assistant called Dora to streamline outpatient appointments.

The aim is to reduce wait times for routine check-ups and to allow healthcare professionals to see more patients as well as providing them with more time to focus on those patients with more complex care needs.

Ophthalmologists are doctors who care for patients with eye conditions.

Digital Assistant Dora will be able to hold follow-up calls with patients and have an automated conversation with them. Patients can speak to Dora naturally, like they would a doctor or nurse.

Dora will call patients following surgery to ask about symptoms, whether the patient needs their second eye operated on, answer common questions and collect feedback on the service provided.

An additional feature to Dora is that patients with mobile phones will receive a text message with the date and time that Dora will call. Dora will also try alternative times and days if these are more suitable for the patient.

The software has been developed by an autonomous telemedicine company, Ufonia.

Dora has been successfully deployed at trusts across the NHS and has conducted over 30,000 calls to patients.

Dora officially launched at MKUH in July this year for post cataract follow-up appointments and will be trailed for a 12-month period. Feedback from patients will be collected during the trial period.