Clinic AI compliance, one question at a time
Straight answers to the questions UK clinics ask before using AI scribes and receptionists: UK GDPR, CQC, DTAC, DSPT, clinical safety, consent, data residency and call recording. Each page cites the primary source.
Data protection
UK GDPR, DPIAs, where data lives and what vendors may do with it.
Can a UK clinic use an AI scribe under UK GDPR?
Consultation audio and notes are special category data. What you need in place before an AI scribe goes live.
Read the answerDo I need a DPIA before using AI in my clinic?
Why AI processing of patient data almost always needs a DPIA, what goes in one, and a free template.
Read the answerDoes patient data have to stay in the UK when a clinic uses AI?
UK GDPR allows transfers with safeguards. Where hidden transfers happen in AI tools, and what to ask vendors.
Read the answerCan AI vendors train on our patient data, and how long should they keep it?
Get an unqualified no-training commitment and a written retention schedule for audio, transcripts and notes.
Read the answerClinical safety and NHS assurance
The NHS standards and guidance buyers, inspectors and insurers use as the benchmark.
What are DCB0129 and DCB0160, and do they apply to my clinic?
The NHS clinical risk standards for health IT: what the vendor does, what your clinic does, and a starter hazard log.
Read the answerDo clinic AI tools need DTAC and DSPT?
What DTAC and the DSPT are, when each applies to a private clinic, and how to check a vendor's evidence.
Read the answerWhat does NHS England's guidance on ambient voice technology say?
A plain-English summary of NHS England's ambient scribing guidance and its supplier registry.
Read the answerInspection and patients
What CQC looks for, and what to tell patients and callers.
What does CQC expect when a clinic uses AI?
No AI-specific rules: Regulation 17 applies. What mythbuster 109 says inspectors check, and the evidence to keep.
Read the answerDo patients need to consent to an AI scribe, and what should we tell them?
What to tell patients, how to record their agreement, signage wording, and what to do when they decline.
Read the answerCan an AI phone agent record and transcribe patient calls in the UK?
The interception rules, UK GDPR and PECR, applied to an AI receptionist that records and transcribes calls.
Read the answerHow to use these pages
Each page starts with a short answer, then explains the rules, says what Motics does, and links the primary sources: the ICO, CQC, NHS England and legislation.gov.uk. Every page shows when its facts were last reviewed.
This is practical orientation for UK clinics, not legal advice. For your own circumstances, take advice from your data protection officer, indemnity provider or a solicitor. For the full picture in one read, see our UK compliance guide for clinic AI.