As reported by the Royal College of General Practitioners, GPs are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence in their daily work, but access to these tools remains largely dictated by local policies
A lack of national guidance means practices, primary care networks and Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) make their own rules – with some banning AI entirely and others actively encouraging pilots.
As a result, many GPs rely on word-of-mouth recommendations or marketing from AI companies to decide what to use, raising concerns about patient safety and widening inequalities, particularly in more deprived areas where access to tools is more limited.
A new analysis by the Nuffield Trust and Royal College of General Practitioners finds that more than one in four GPs (28%) now use AI at work, yet many describe a “wild west” of inconsistent standards and minimal formal training.
The survey of over 2,100 GPs shows that 13% use AI tools supplied by their practice, while 11% rely on tools they have sourced themselves, such as ChatGPT. A further 4% use a combination of both.
Among the 597 GPs who detailed how they use AI, 57% said they relied on it for clinical documentation and note-taking, 45% for professional development and 44% for administrative tasks.
The findings also expose stark variations in who is using AI. One in three male GPs reported using AI compared with one in four female GPs, and male respondents were more likely to use self-sourced tools. Adoption also differed by deprivation: 27% of GPs in poorer areas used AI, compared with 35% in more affluent communities, highlighting the risk that AI could deepen existing divides in general practice.
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