An artificial intelligence (AI) system which speaks to patients has been found to enhance patient care after cataract surgery.

The AI, named Dora, was developed by Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (OUH) and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.

It calls patients to ask them questions, understand their answers and accurately identify responses that indicate the need for clinical review.

More than 200 patients who had recently undergone cataract surgery, the most common surgery performed by the NHS, took part in the study.

They got a call from Dora three weeks after their operation for a follow-up assessment which was supervised by an ophthalmologist.

The study compared Dora's decisions about the clinical importance of five symptoms and whether the patient needed additional review against those of the overseeing ophthalmologist.

Dora's verdicts aligned strongly with those of the medical practitioners during the research.

Kanmin Xue, honorary consultant ophthalmologist and co-principal investigator at OUH, said: "The Dora system is able to call patients autonomously by telephone and conduct a conversation that gathers the key information needed to determine whether a patient is recovering well or requires further medical assessment.

"It was successful in identifying and prioritising those individuals who needed additional clinical input.

"Since the trial, an updated version of Dora has been deployed at OUH as the default system for post-cataract surgery assessment for thousands of patients.

"We have now also expanded its use to pre-operative assessments, where Dora runs through a checklist of screening questions, including whether or not the patient wishes to have surgery for their cataract.

"The information is logged on our electronic medical records, thus speeding up the face-to-face nurse-led pre-assessment."

Patients largely accepted the use of Dora, although some did worry about the lack of a 'human element' in cases with complications.

This telemedicine follow-up was estimated to have save around £35 per patient compared to standard care.

Ufonia, an Oxford spin-out company that developed Dora, received support from Health Innovation Oxford and Thames Valley.

They evaluated the cost benefits of incorporating Dora into the post-operative patient pathway.

Ufonia CEO, Dr Nick de Pennington, said: "What this research clearly shows is Dora's high accuracy in identifying patients who need human clinical input.

"We are now expanding Dora's artificial clinical intelligence across eye care pathways in the NHS and internationally.

"The system offers significant benefits in safety, acceptability, and cost-efficiency.

"It delivers the additional benefit of reducing hospitals' carbon footprint, and most importantly increases the accessibility of healthcare to patients."

The study was funded by a National Institute for Health and Care Research Artificial Intelligence in Health and Care Award.