TCS partners The Walton Centre to build AI-based Chatbot for patient care

Indian IT major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has partnered with UK-based The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust (The Walton Centre), a specialist hospital trust, to build an AI-based Chatbot that will help reduce the waiting time for patients significantly to visit a specialist consultant. 

The collaboration is aimed at transforming the experience for outpatient referrals to neurologists. According to The Walton Centre, “patients with headaches make up the largest number of such referrals, with a three-month average waiting period to be seen by a consultant. The solution could transform the way headache patients are diagnosed and treated at the centre in Liverpool”. 

Shalini Mathur, Business Unit Head, Public Services for UK, Europe & ANZ, TCS, said, these technologies and solutions will help reduce waiting times for patients while improving the productivity of specialist consultants. 

On how it works, she said, the chatbot will interact with patients being referred to a neurology or headache specialist and compile a detailed medical history which clinicians can review before the first appointment with that patient and recommend a further course of action. This will enhance their productivity and help bring down the waiting time for patients.  

“The chatbot system also has potential to be extended into other areas of medicine, which could benefit even more patients. We are working closely with TCS and our other specialist partners to ensure the new solution is effective and safe and improves efficiency and patient outcomes,” said Dr. Anita Krishnan, Divisional Clinical Director for Neurology, The Walton Centre. 

The solution, which will be developed as a prototype, will leverage cloud native, serverless technologies and conversational AI, to ensure clinical safety and effectiveness, the company said.