Home Contact Us Ali the AI Virtual Assistant Sub Menu Ali the AI Virtual Assistant Our trust will be piloting a new virtual assistant called Ali to help manage appointment inquiries for you, our patients. Initially Ali, the virtual assistant, will be trialled with the following 3 services: Psychotherapy Department (Specialist Psychotherapy Service City and Hackney) Newham Child Development Service Dunstable CMHT also known as Beacon House CMHT This will be another way that you can contact the service about your appointments. You can message the text based virtual assistant to view and ask questions about your upcoming appointments within the next 60 days, along with requesting an appointment cancellation or reschedule. The aim of this product is to improve your experience when managing appointments and help assist in rescheduling any bookings you are unable to attend while providing an easier way to remind you of future booked appointments. You can speak to the virtual assistant through this page by clicking on the Green ‘Click to Chat’ button If you need help, please contact the booking office named in your appointment letter. You can ask the Ali to Show your appointments booked within the next 60 days Send an appointment cancellation request to the service on your behalf Send an appointment reschedule request to the service on your behalf Questions about your upcoming appointment(s) Please note, if you wish to amend an appointment scheduled in the next 48hours (excluding weekends/Bank Holidays), please contact the booking office urgently by telephone. Psychotherapy Department (Specialist Psychotherapy Service City and Hackney) - 020 8510 2900 Newham Child Development Service - call them on 020 8586 6250/51 Dunstable CMHT also known as Beacon House CMHT - call them on 01582 709200 What is AI (Artificial Intelligence)? Artificial Intelligence means different things to different people. In this context ‘Artificial Intelligence’ is the use of natural language processing, allowing the virtual assistant Ali to understand the comments you type within the webchat. Once Ali has decided the meaning of your text, it will follow a standard set of questions, laid out by the Trust, giving you responses that have been written by the Trust. Therefore, the Artificial Intelligence being used is focused on understanding the language people use and is not being used to decide what care you should receive. FAQs What is a Virtual Assistant? We are introducing a new function to the ELFT website to help people to get answers to simple queries about their care. You may have already seen a Virtual Assistant in action when buying something online. It is when a box pops up asking if you need help or if you need to speak to a member of sales staff. Our Virtual Assistant will work in exactly the same way. You will be able to carry out a number of actions on the website. You will be able to confirm your appointment, cancel it or reschedule it. What can I ask the Virtual Assistant? From July 15th if your care is provided by services in the trial, you will be able to ask the Virtual Assistant for information about Your appointments (view, reschedule, cancel) Parking arrangements close by Local transport links Opening times Contact details for my services (phone/email) Can I use the Virtual Assistant if I feel unwell or in an emergency? No. The Virtual Assistant is not designed for use in emergency situations. It is for general changes and actions relating to the management of your appointments and information. In an crisis or emergency situation, you should contact your health care professional or contact one of the numbers here for help and advice: https://www.elft.nhs.uk/Contact-Us/Get-Help-in-an-Emergency What channels will this service be available on? Initially, it will be available by web chat on our website but we are looking at other options too for 2021. You can access the ELFT Virtual Assistant through the ELFT services webpage via any web browser, such as Chrome, Safari, Microsoft Edge or Mozilla Firefox. You can access this from the browser on your personal smartphone, desktop PC, laptop, tablet etc. Can I still call the service directly? Yes, you can always contact the service by telephone. The idea of the Virtual Assistant is to increase your options on how to connect with the service, and make better use of your time. Is the Virtual Assistant secure? Yes, messages are secured and encoded end-to-end. The message will be converted from one system of communication to another. As with all such services, the Trust and its suppliers take the utmost care to ensure full security and data protection measures are in place. It is always important to lock your device when it is not is use. Otherwise, anyone could access your phone, tablet, laptop or desktop and see your information. Making sure you have a password or passcode that only you know means that even if you lose your electronic device, your information is safe. What information will I need to provide when I use the Virtual Assistant? You will need to provide key information about yourself when asking for information on your patient record. This is a standard security requirement even if you are on Trust premises. The Virtual Assistant will ask you for either of the following: Your NHS Number and date of birth or First name, surname, date of birth and postcode What if I lose my device? We advise everyone to lock their devices with a password or passcode regardless of whether it is a phone, laptop, tablet or desktop. If you do not know how to do this, ask your health professional to show you how to do this next time you see them. I do not have a smartphone, what shall I do? Don’t worry, you can access the Virtual Assistant via a web browser from your desktop PC, laptop or tablet. What if I want to stop using the Virtual Assistant at any time? You will be able to de-register from the service at any time, either from the Website, or from Facebook Messenger. You have the option to select ‘Opt-out’ from the carousel in the Virtual Assistant. You also have the option to type ‘Opt-out’ and this will trigger the response. You will then be guided through the process. Can I speak to someone instead? Absolutely, you can either ask the Virtual Assistant to speak to a human or contact the service via the normal phone lines within the stated working hours. When you ‘Opt-in’ to using the Virtual Assistant or begin a new conversation, the Virtual Assistant will automatically share information for which services can be accessed via this mode and to contact the team/service or emergency services in the event of an emergency. Why would I want to use this? We hope this will give people more control over checking/changing appointments, requesting letters, etc. It will make better use of your time and be quicker than waiting for the service phone to be answered, waiting in a phone queue or hearing the engaged tone. It means you can complete the change or make your enquiry quickly, and then get on with your day. Is this because the service does not want us to call anymore? No, we are always happy to take calls from anyone who uses our services. This is an additional channel that we have created to make communication a bit easier for you. As an advocate organisation, we feel we should provide technical digital options as well as the usual channels to respect your time and enable you to complete specific actions quickly and efficiently. Many of the questions you have can probably be answered quickly by the Virtual Assistant, perhaps sooner than calling the service. Also, if we can free up our phone lines a little by offering other ways for you to get the information you need, service users who really need to speak with us on the phone will be able to get through quicker. This will also free up a little bit of staff time to spend on providing care. What languages can I communicate in with the Virtual Assistant? At the moment the Virtual Assistant is programmed to communicate in English. However, we are exploring the option of adding additional languages as the Virtual Assistant might be less stressful for someone to use, rather trying to explain themselves verbally. What about people who do not read or write? Everyone can call the service directly as they do now. We are also looking at the option to talk-type to make the channel accessible to more clients. How do I know that I’ve changed my appointment? Do you get a text/email confirmation? Yes, you will receive a confirmation of any changes to your appointments be they instigated by the trust or by yourself via the Virtual Assistant. You will receive notifications for Appointment bookings Rescheduled appointments (either by trust or patient) Cancelled appointment (either by trust or by patient) Appointment reminders 24 hours in advance. NB: You will only receive notifications or use the Virtual Assistant if you are part of one of the following services; Dunstable CMHT Bedfordshire, Child Development Service Newham and Specialist Psychotherapy Service City and Hackney. Can I update any of my personal info via the Virtual Assistant? If so, how? No, in this release, the Virtual Assistant does not have the ability to update your personal information. However, this is something we may look into in the future. If your personal details need updating, please contact your service directly. Can I find my NHS number using the Virtual Assistant? No, the Virtual Assistant will not provide you with your NHS Number. Your NHS number is available / can be retrieved on any of the following Appointment Letters Clinic Letters Call the service, you will need to provide; Name, Postcode etc. in order to identify yourself Ask at your next appointment Please give us a rating for the content or use of our site? Quick links About Us Contact Us Follow us on Terms of Use Cookie Policy Feedback © East London NHS Foundation Trust. All rights reserved