innex.ai

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NHS Problem

To provide high-quality patient care, the NHS needs safe, efficient and reliable buildings and facilities. However, amidst an ever-increasing patient backlog, staff shortages, and an ambitious net zero carbon target, the NHS is collapsing under the weight of an £11.6 billion maintenance backlog. More than 200k infrastructure support staff are dealing with this challenge, but are slowed down by demanding regulations, silo-working, and evolving industry standards. As a result, staff are spending more than 11 hours weekly searching for information and “locating the right information often feels like searching for a needle in a haystack” (Director of Estates, NHS Trust).   

The Solution

innex.ai is an AI-powered platform for healthcare infrastructure support staff designed to simplify the way information is accessed, shared, and leveraged. Through a user-friendly chatbot interface, innex.ai provides instant access to crucial governance documents, such as regulations, policies, and best practices. It fosters collaborative problem-solving by linking staff with shared challenges and provides national-level bodies with insights into operational hurdles, facilitating swift, proactive guidance updates or training. By enhancing productivity and equipping staff with access to the latest information on technical and sustainability issues, innex.ai cultivates a more efficient, sustainable, and compliant healthcare infrastructure. 

Impact

A proof-of-concept study conducted at the University of Cambridge demonstrated the significant impact of the innex.ai platform on guidance retrieval tasks. 62 NHS Estates and Facilities Management professionals participated and reported spending more than 11 hours per week searching for regulatory compliance information across multiple repositories. Using innex.ai, staff were able to complete guidance retrieval tasks 35% faster and with a 53% better answer quality, representing a potential weekly time saving of more than 4 hours per staff member.  

This significant time saving not only alleviates staff mental health problems (responsible for 1 in 5 staff absences) but also allows staff to focus on tackling critical and pressing technical challenges. These include tackling an escalating maintenance backlog that threatens the safety and effectiveness of buildings and facilities, as well as implementing sustainability initiatives that are essential to meeting the NHS net zero carbon targets. 

In upcoming six-month pilots across multiple NHS Trusts, we will further explore the platform’s potential to reduce clinical downtime, support staff development and satisfaction, and drive sustainability efforts. This rigorous evaluation aims to quantify time and cost savings, while also assessing its impact on improving patient care through more efficient and effective management of healthcare facilities.