The NHS have teamed up with Amazon to allow the public to obtain health advice from their voice assisted technology.

Until now, Alexa would give answers to generic health related questions based on various sources. However, Amazon’s algorithm will now use information from the NHS website to provide answers to questions such as ‘Alexa, how do I treat a migraine’’ or ‘Alexa, what are the symptoms of chickenpox’.

The Department of Health has said that it will empower patients and hopefully reduce the pressure on the NHS by providing reliable information on common illnesses.

Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, has stated that ‘technology like this is a great example of how people can access reliable, world-leading NHS advice from the comfort of their home, reducing the pressure on our hardworking GPs and pharmacists’.

But will it? Technology is clearly becoming ever more present in our everyday lives. Technology has its advantages and can definitely improve healthcare.

But ‘Dr Alexa’ should never remove the chance for a patient to be able to have a face to face discussion with a qualified treating clinician about their health concerns. Human compassion and sensitivity can never be replaced by voice assisted technology.

In our experience poor communication between doctors and their patients can be one of the contributing factors in medical negligence.  Dr Alexa will certainly help with common non-serious complaints but it is difficult to see how this technology can replace the honed skills of the doctor seeing his patient in person to observe, take a full history and perform a thorough examination.  However, we would hope that the improvements in technology in this area will help to reduce instances of negligence.

If you feel that you or a loved one might have been harmed by medical negligence, then Jackson Lees may be able to help you understand what happened and why; and go some way to help you move on from these mistakes.

For a free consultation with one of our specialist advisers call us on 0151 647 9381, request a callback at your convenience or message us your enquiry.