Recently, the NHS announced one of the most ambitious reforms in its 75-year history: the creation of the UK’s first online hospital, called ‘NHS Online’. Set to go live in 2027, this digitally-enabled, fully integrated model of care will allow patients to easily access healthcare and connect with specialists from across the country, breaking free from the constraints of traditional brick-and-mortar facilities.
This model is expected to deliver the equivalent of up to 8.5 million appointments and assessments in its first three years four times more than an average Trust, while reducing variation in care quality and improving access for patients.
However, scaling digital pathways safely and effectively is not without challenges. Ensuring equitable access, integrating with existing hospital systems, and managing waiting lists efficiently are all critical to success.
With EBO, this vision for the future is already within reach. Our scalable AI solutions, already proven in 20 NHS trusts and private hospitals, are designed to power exactly this kind of innovation. Fully integrated with NHS core systems, including the NHS App and EPRs, our AI technology can support all key pillars of the “online hospital” model; from appointments and assessment forms to waiting lists, patient engagement and more.
AI Solutions Already Built for the Online Hospital Era
Delivering on the promise of an online hospital requires a platform capable of managing complex, end-to-end digital care pathways at scale. That’s where EBO comes in.
Our technology provides:
- Automated Appointment Management: Clinicians can schedule, triage, and monitor patients digitally, maintaining a smooth, compliant workflow.
- Assessments & Forms: Clinicians engage with patients by using conversational AI to deliver structured, meaningful assessments – far beyond the limitations of traditional digital forms.
- Waiting List Validation & Optimisation: Trusts and ICBs engage with patients at scale, ensuring clinical appropriateness, reducing administrative burden and wait times, improving patient access and freeing up valuable staff time.
- Patient Onboarding: Boosting patient registration on digital health portals, automating validation and enhancing the accuracy of patient records.
- e-Correspondence: A digital first approach to managing medical correspondence.
Tackling One of the Hardest Challenges First: Waiting Lists
One of the NHS’ biggest challenges is the size and complexity of its elective waiting lists. Managing and validating these lists manually is slow, resource-intensive, and often clinically suboptimal.
This is precisely where EBO’s AI-powered Waiting List Validation & Optimisation solution has already demonstrated transformative impact across many NHS Trusts.
Unlike traditional call-centre or one-way digital approaches, our conversational AI blends behavioural science with clinical oversight, ensuring patients feel heard, informed, and empowered across the care pathway.
EBO’s AI-driven Waiting List Validation & Optimisation solution addresses these challenges head-on:
- Proactive engagement at scale in 100+ languages
- Reducing administrative burden
- Seamless integration with NHS App, PAS and EPR systems
- Immediate appointment readiness
- Automated validation cycles
- Bespoke patient conversations
Also, in our latest episode of EBO’s Digital Dose podcast, Richard Samuel, Healthcare Director at EBO, and Liz Ashall-Payne, Founder and CEO of ORCHA, explore how digital health tools and AI can help patients “wait well” while supporting NHS services at scale.
A UK Vision with Global Implications
While NHS Online is a UK-first initiative, the trends driving it patient demand, workforce pressures, and rising costs are universal across Europe. EBO’s platform is designed to support rapid rollout in provider environments anywhere, with high compliance standards, seamless interoperability, and AI-driven optimisation.
Interested in how EBO can bring your healthcare organisation closer to your patients and service users? Download the guide today!
- Redefine Patient Engagement
- Build Meaningful Relationships
- Enhance Patient Access
