A stroke survivor says an AI receptionist at her GP surgery could not understand her, leading her to register elsewhere.
The ASA surgery at Armthorpe, near Doncaster, was one of many facilities using a nationwide AI system called EMMA to prevent long waits on the phone.
Judith Butterfield, 71, said she tried five times to book a GP appointment after her stroke but was unable to get past the automated service.
Practice manager Claire Oxley said the EMMA service had since been “decommissioned” at Armthorpe and was no longer being used.
Butterfield spent two months at Doncaster Royal Infirmary after having a stroke in January.
The stroke primarily affected strength and mobility on the right side of her body and left her speech fragmented.
She said the problem was made more difficult because the AI service asked patients not to use speakerphone.
Butterfield explained: “I need to hold the phone in my left hand but I can’t use the keypad now with my right hand so what am I supposed to do?
“It’s not appropriate as a service to have a robot taking details.
“It should be a more personal thing where you’re talking to a person and asking questions.
“There was a point in the conversation where I had to repeat my name and she just couldn’t understand me.
“If it’s a person they can say, ‘could you spell that?’ But the call just dropped off. It was very difficult and upsetting.”
Butterfield, a former HR worker, has since registered with the Burns Practice in Doncaster.
“They have very good, friendly, helpful receptionists,” she said.
“There’s still the wait when you phone up and you’re in a queue but you can use a call-back service.
“I was amazed when I spoke to a person.”
Healthwatch said other patients in Yorkshire had also experienced difficulties being understood by AI reception services.
Oxley said: “I am sorry to hear this patient encountered difficulties and felt the need to move to another surgery.
“I can confirm the AI EMMA service has been decommissioned and the practice are no longer using this system.
“We would welcome the patient back to the surgery and I can assure this lady and others that we have successfully recruited more reception staff to help improve our service to patients.”
A spokesperson for QuantumLoopAI, the company behind the system, said: “We are sorry to hear about this patient’s experience.
“Nobody should feel they have to change practice to be heard, and with her consent we would welcome the chance to look into what happened and help put it right.”
The company said every practice using EMMA could configure “priority routing”, allowing patients to go “straight through to the reception team on every call”.
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