NHS Ambient Voice Technology Registry: A Clinician's Guide
What the NHS England AVT Supplier Registry means for AI medical scribes — who is listed, what the requirements are, and how to evaluate tools for your practice.
WhiteFieldHealth
Built for reviewable clinical documentation, not generic AI output.
The rapid adoption of AI medical scribes in NHS settings has prompted NHS England to establish a formal framework for evaluating ambient voice technology suppliers. Published in January 2026, the NHS Ambient Voice Technology (AVT) Supplier Registry is the first attempt to create a centralised listing of vendors that meet baseline safety and compliance standards. This guide explains what the registry is, what it requires, who is on it, and what it means for clinicians making purchasing decisions.
What Is the NHS AVT Registry?
The NHS Ambient Voice Technology Supplier Registry is a list published by NHS England of suppliers who have self-certified that their ambient voice technology products meet a defined set of safety, compliance, and clinical governance standards. As of early 2026, the registry lists 19 suppliers.
The critical word here is self-certified. Suppliers declare their own compliance with the registry's requirements. NHS England has not independently verified every claim. The registry is a filter, not an endorsement. It establishes a minimum bar that suppliers must clear to be considered, but listing does not guarantee quality, accuracy, or fitness for any specific clinical use case.
The registry covers ambient voice technology specifically — tools that listen to clinical consultations and generate documentation. It does not cover dictation software, patient-facing chatbots, or other healthcare AI applications.
Why the Registry Exists
The growth of AI scribes in UK healthcare has been remarkably fast. In 2024, ambient clinical documentation was a niche concept used by early adopters. By 2025, thousands of NHS clinicians were using AI scribes daily, often without formal procurement or clinical safety assessment. NHS England recognised the need for baseline standards before adoption scaled further.
Data Protection Concerns
AI scribes process some of the most sensitive data in healthcare: raw consultation audio containing patient identifiable information and special category health data. Without clear standards, clinicians were adopting tools with no assurance about where data was stored or processed.
Clinical Safety Risks
AI-generated clinical notes can hallucinate information, omit critical details, or misinterpret clinical terminology. Without clinical safety assessment, these risks were not being systematically identified or mitigated in many deployments.
The registry also addresses procurement challenges. ICBs and NHS trusts were receiving pitches from dozens of vendors with no standardised way to evaluate their claims. The registry provides a baseline filter that simplifies initial assessment, even if it does not replace thorough due diligence.
Requirements for Suppliers
To be listed on the NHS AVT Registry, suppliers must self-certify compliance with a set of regulatory, technical, and clinical governance standards. These are the key requirements.
- MHRA Class I Medical Device Registration — The product must be registered with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency as a Class I medical device, or the supplier must provide a justified exemption. This is the single most significant regulatory hurdle, as MHRA registration requires a conformity assessment and ongoing post-market surveillance.
- DTAC Compliance — The Digital Technology Assessment Criteria is NHS England's framework for assessing digital health technologies. It covers clinical safety, data protection, technical security, interoperability, and usability. DTAC compliance demonstrates that the product has been assessed against standardised NHS criteria.
- NHS DSPT Submission — The Data Security and Protection Toolkit annual self-assessment demonstrates compliance with the National Data Guardian's ten data security standards. A current DSPT submission with “Standards Met” status is expected.
- Cyber Essentials Certification — The government-backed scheme covering boundary firewalls, secure configuration, access control, malware protection, and patch management. Cyber Essentials Plus (which includes independent testing) provides stronger assurance than basic certification.
- Evidence of Clinical Benefit in NHS Settings — Suppliers must demonstrate that their product has been used in NHS clinical environments and provides measurable benefit. This can include formal evaluations, pilot studies, or documented deployments at NHS sites.
- Clinical Safety Case (DCB0129/DCB0160) — A clinical safety case under DCB0129 (for manufacturers) and DCB0160 (for deploying organisations) that identifies and mitigates clinical risks from the technology. This must be maintained by a qualified Clinical Safety Officer.
It is worth noting that these requirements represent a compliance baseline. Meeting them does not guarantee that a product is accurate, reliable, or suited to your specific clinical context. The registry filters out vendors who have not engaged with NHS governance frameworks, but it does not evaluate clinical output quality.
Who Is on the Registry?
The registry lists 19 suppliers as of early 2026. Here are the most notable entries that UK clinicians are likely to encounter. For a full comparison of the leading options, see our best AI medical scribes for UK clinicians guide.
- Tortus AI — London-based, MHRA Class I registered. Completed a 9-site evaluation at Great Ormond Street Hospital covering 17,000+ encounters. Partners with X-on Health for GP distribution. One of the strongest regulatory profiles on the registry.
- Accurx (Tandem) — UK-based platform used by 98% of NHS GP practices for patient messaging. Their ambient scribe product integrates directly into the existing Accurx platform with EMIS and SystmOne connectivity.
- Heidi Health — Australian company with 50,000+ global clinician users. Has established UK data residency and growing NHS adoption, particularly in general practice.
- Lyrebird Health — Australian company with broad specialty coverage including allied health and psychology. UK data residency established with growing NHS presence.
- Augnito (Scribetech) — UK company with over 20 years of NHS heritage in clinical speech recognition. Enterprise-focused with bespoke pricing for NHS organisations.
- Nuance DAX Copilot — Microsoft-owned, formerly Dragon Ambient eXperience. Deep EHR integrations, particularly with Epic. Enterprise-only at ~$369/mo per user.
The remaining suppliers on the registry include a mix of UK startups, international companies with UK operations, and established health IT vendors that have added ambient voice capabilities. Not all 19 suppliers are widely known or available for individual clinician purchase.
What This Means for Clinicians
The AVT Registry is a useful starting point, but clinicians and practice managers should understand its limitations clearly.
What the Registry Is
A baseline safety filter. Listed suppliers have at minimum engaged with NHS compliance frameworks and self-declared that they meet defined standards. It narrows the field from dozens of vendors to a shortlist that has done basic regulatory homework.
What the Registry Is Not
Not a recommendation, endorsement, or quality mark. Registry listing does not mean NHS England has tested the product, verified its accuracy, or assessed its clinical output quality. It does not replace your own evaluation.
For ICB procurement, some Integrated Care Boards may require AVT Registry listing as a prerequisite for purchasing approval. If you are going through a formal NHS procurement process, check with your ICB whether registry listing is mandatory or recommended. For individual clinicians purchasing their own tools, the registry is advisory rather than binding.
Products not on the registry are not necessarily unsafe or non-compliant. The registry is relatively new, and some vendors may be in the process of applying or may meet the underlying standards without having formally self-certified through the registry process.
How to Evaluate an AI Scribe
Whether a product is on the AVT Registry or not, these are the criteria that matter most when evaluating an AI scribe for clinical use. Use this as a practical checklist alongside any formal procurement process.
Data Residency
Confirm where audio, transcripts, and notes are processed and stored. UK data residency means all processing happens within UK borders — not just storage. Ask specifically about the transcription step, which some vendors outsource to US-based APIs.
Pricing Transparency
Can you see pricing before speaking to sales? Is it in GBP? Are there hidden costs for features, storage, or seat minimums? Self-serve pricing is a sign of a vendor that respects your time.
Template Support
Does the tool support your specific documentation formats? Can you customise templates for SOAP notes, referral letters, chronic disease reviews, and specialty-specific workflows? Pre-set templates may not match your practice standards.
Integration Capability
How do notes get into your clinical system? Direct EMIS/SystmOne integration is ideal, but a clean copy-paste workflow is acceptable for many practices. Avoid tools that require complex IT setup.
Training Requirements
How long does it take for a clinician to start using the tool productively? Self-serve products should require minimal training. Enterprise tools may need dedicated onboarding sessions.
Contract Flexibility
Avoid long-term lock-in contracts when evaluating a new technology. Monthly billing, transparent pricing, and easy cancellation make it easier to test the workflow before committing.
WhiteFieldHealth and the AVT Registry
We believe in transparency about where we stand. WhiteFieldHealth is not currently listed on the NHS AVT Supplier Registry. We are actively working toward inclusion, and here is an honest summary of our compliance position.
- UK data residency: All patient data processed and stored within UK borders. No exceptions during any stage of the pipeline.
- GDPR compliance: Built natively for UK GDPR from day one, including lawful basis documentation, DPIA, data minimisation, and configurable retention policies.
- NHS DSPT alignment: Security practices designed to align with the ten data security standards. Formal submission is in progress.
- DCB0129 alignment: Clinical safety approach follows DCB0129 principles. Formal certification is in progress.
- Cyber Essentials alignment: Meeting core requirements for boundary security, access control, and patch management. Formal certification is in progress.
- MHRA registration: In progress. This is the primary remaining requirement for AVT Registry listing.
What WhiteFieldHealth offers that no product on the AVT Registry currently provides is retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) powered clinical safety checks. Every note generated by WhiteFieldHealth is cross-referenced against BNF drug information, NICE clinical guidelines, and CKS clinical knowledge summaries. This is a meaningful clinical safety feature — it helps catch drug interaction risks, dosage errors, and missing safety-netting advice before a note is finalised.
We recognise that formal registry listing matters for NHS procurement processes. We are progressing through the MHRA registration process and expect to be eligible for AVT Registry listing in the near term. In the meantime, individual clinicians and practices can evaluate WhiteFieldHealth directly by reviewing pricing and signing up.
Evaluate WhiteFieldHealth for your practice
See how RAG-powered clinical safety checks, UK data residency, and transparent pricing work in your daily workflow. Review the details, then sign up when you are ready.