UK digital health innovator Aide Health has launched Mirror, the first and only AI-powered scribe developed specifically for patients, set to transform how people remember, understand, and act on advice from their surgeon.
Research shows up to 80% of medical details are forgotten immediately, and of the small amount remembered, nearly half is recalled inaccurately.
For surgical patients, this can lead to missed pre-op or post-op instructions, medication errors, and complications - all contributing to poorer outcomes and longer hospital stays.
Poor communication is implicated in 70% of adverse events, with two-thirds occurring during patient handoffs or transitions of care. The financial impact is also significant, costing the NHS an estimated £1 billion a year (2017).
“In 2023, there were 135 million outpatient appointments, with a significant portion related to surgical specialities. That’s millions of vital surgical instructions, diagnoses, and treatment plans at risk of being lost or misinterpreted,” said Ian Wharton, Founder and CEO, Aide Health.
“We built Mirror for patients, not clinicians, because understanding and remembering clinical information is one of the most important and fixable issues in healthcare, especially around complex surgical pathways and discharge planning.”
Mirror discreetly captures consultations across all healthcare settings, including GP surgeries, hospital wards, surgical clinics, pharmacies, and produces personalised, plain-English summaries that patients can revisit at any time.
This helps reduce anxiety, improve adherence to treatment, and support better recovery outcomes.
Unlike clinician-facing scribes, which primarily save clinicians’ documentation time, Mirror focuses entirely on the patient’s experience, helping them remember and act on medical advice, from preoperative instructions to postoperative care plans.
No other major scribe technology currently offers patients a structured, take-home record that spans primary, secondary, and community care, creating continuity and confidence throughout complex surgical journeys.
Patients can:
- Ask Mirror questions about their consultation and receive answers grounded in the actual transcript
- Share consultation summaries with family members or caregivers
- Better understand relevant topics with clinically-verified Aide content
- Review key points at any time, supporting long-term self-management and recovery
Mirror is especially valuable for patients managing chronic conditions, those with limited health literacy, and individuals with cognitive challenges such as dementia - all of whom may find it harder to retain complex surgical or hospital care instructions.
Mirror reassures both clinicians and patients. Audio recordings are used solely for AI processing and deleted immediately.
Patients are clearly informed that AI may make mistakes, are advised to follow their clinician’s prescriptions and to double-check with a healthcare professional if they are unsure.
“The current system, relying on patient memory alone, means the baseline for risk is already high,” Wharton said. “Evidence has repeatedly shown that our memory is flawed in most cases, especially while an inpatient or following trauma. Mirror offers an accurate, accessible written record that reduces this risk - a crucial step forward for surgical patients navigating complex care.”
Aide Health’s mission is to make prescribed care as effective as possible. Its technology is already used by thousands of patients in NHS England to support the management of conditions such as asthma, type 2 diabetes, COPD, hypertension, and chronic kidney disease. It now aims to improve surgical patient experience and outcomes.
