Tortus

What is Tortus?

Tortus is a UK clinical AI assistant that uses ambient voice technology to turn recorded consultations into notes, codes, letters and referrals for clinicians to check. The company styles its name TORTUS.

A clinician starts a session, holds the consultation as normal and receives a structured draft within seconds. Audio is separated by speaker and encrypted on the device, and a safety layer called the Shell screens the draft for statements the conversation does not support. Nothing reaches the electronic health record until the clinician has reviewed and approved it, so Tortus supports documentation work and does not give medical advice or make clinical decisions.

Dr Dom Pimenta and Christopher Tan founded the company, which is backed by Khosla Ventures. The official site reports four years of NHS use, more than 2.5 million documented consultations and deployment across over 1,000 NHS organisations. Many GP practices reach the technology through X-on Health’s Surgery Intellect, which runs on Tortus.

Key Features

The Shell and direct EHR filing carry most of the value, because together they cut checking time and remove the copy-and-paste step between scribe and record.

• Ambient capture: Tortus records the consultation in the background with speaker separation. Audio is encrypted locally on the device, and the Surgery Intellect version also captures telephone consultations alongside face-to-face visits.
• Structured notes: Draft notes appear within seconds of the consultation ending. Custom templates let clinicians shape the layout to their specialty, from a GP review to a cardiology or dermatology clinic.
• Coding and letters: The system suggests clinical codes and drafts patient letters, referrals and colleague correspondence. X-on describes automatic SNOMED coding in its GP product, which helps keep records consistent across a practice.
• The Shell: This checking layer detects and removes unsupported or invented statements before the clinician sees the draft. Tortus reports a live detection rate of 92.7% and a 75% cut in major hallucinations in peer-reviewed work.
• EHR filing: Approved notes file straight into systems such as EMIS, SystmOne and Epic. Clinicians must sign off every draft first, which keeps clinical responsibility with the professional and avoids retyping text between two separate systems.
• Wide clinical coverage: Tortus lists more than 50 clinical settings, including A&E, ambulance clinical hubs, outpatients, GP practices and mental health services. One product can therefore serve several departments in a trust.

Pros

Regulatory standing gives Tortus its edge, since the company states it was the first ambient voice tool to reach UKCA Class IIa medical device status.

• Regulated device: UKCA Class IIa status means the product has met a higher bar than many general scribes. Information governance teams in NHS trusts often treat this as a starting requirement for approval.
• NHS evaluation data: An NHS England Phase IV evaluation reported 23.5% more direct patient-care time and a 13.4% rise in A&E productivity. Outpatient encounters saved around five minutes each, according to the official site.
• Strong certifications: ISO 13485, ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus are listed alongside DTAC compliance. This shortens procurement checks for trusts and practices that must evidence security and quality management.
• Free starter hours: Primary care users get 10 hours of use free each month. Tortus says this covers most part-time clinicians, who may never need to pay the monthly fee.
• Flexible contracts: The pricing page lists a 30-day exit period for primary care. Practices can trial it in daily work without being locked into a long agreement.

Cons

A tight UK and NHS focus is the main limit on Tortus, because its integrations, regulation and pricing are all designed around British health systems.

• UK focus: Integrations, certifications and workflows are built for NHS settings. Clinicians outside the UK, or in systems without supported records, will find limited value and few local references.
• English only: A competitor review reports no support for other languages. Consultations held through interpreters or in another language may therefore need more manual editing, or a different scribe, before approval.
• Hospital quotes: Secondary care pricing needs a custom quote with a fixed annual fee and usage cap. Trusts cannot estimate costs without a sales and implementation conversation.
• Hardware on annual only: The supplied lavalier microphones, listed at £249.99 in value, come with annual subscriptions. Monthly users must provide their own microphones, which can affect audio quality.
• Review still essential: Even with the Shell, drafts can miss details or mishear accents and drug names. Every note, code and referral must be read and corrected before filing.

Who is Using Tortus?

NHS organisations make up nearly all of its users, with named sites including London Ambulance Service, Great Ormond Street Hospital and St George’s University Hospitals.

• GP practices: Primary care teams use Tortus, often through Surgery Intellect, to cut typing. They document face-to-face and phone consultations and file notes into EMIS or SystmOne.
• NHS trusts: Hospitals such as Royal Devon and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust use it in outpatients and A&E. Specialty clinics rely on custom templates for their letters.
• Ambulance services: London Ambulance Service piloted it in clinical hubs. Tortus reports a 15% rise in hub throughput during that pilot.
• Private clinics: Independent providers wanting a regulated scribe use the primary care plan. The Class IIa status helps them meet their own governance needs.

Pricing

Primary care clinicians pay £79 a month per full-time user once their 10 free hours run out, while hospitals receive a custom quote (official pricing page, October 2026).

One competitor blog claims Tortus has custom pricing only, which conflicts with the published primary care rate.

Disclaimer: VAT treatment is not stated on the pricing page, so confirm the full contract cost with Tortus before signing.

What Makes Tortus Unique?

Regulated NHS deployment is the differentiator. Many AI scribes are general apps sold to individual clinicians, whereas Tortus pairs UKCA Class IIa status with direct filing into major NHS record systems.

The Shell adds a further layer. Instead of relying only on the clinician to spot invented content, Tortus screens each draft first and publishes its detection rate, which gives governance teams a measurable safety figure to assess.

Compatibilities and Integrations

Tortus files notes into six named EHR systems and links with two telephony platforms.

• Platforms: Web access is reported, with lapel microphones supplied on annual plans.
• EHR systems: Epic, EMIS Health, TPP SystmOne, Oracle Health, Access Rio and Medicus.
• Telephony: X-on Surgery Connect and Avaya for telephone consultations.
• Partner product: X-on Surgery Intellect, which runs on Tortus for GP practices.
• Compliance: NHS DTAC compliant, with DSPT standards exceeded.

Tortus Tutorials

Governance sign-off comes before the first consultation, so most practices begin with their information governance lead.

1. Arrange access through your practice, trust or X-on Health.
2. Complete a data protection impact assessment and governance checks.
3. Connect Tortus to your EHR and set up specialty templates.
4. Explain the tool to each patient and gain consent to record.
5. Consult as normal while Tortus listens in the background.
6. Review, correct and approve the draft before it files to the record.

How We Rated It

Tortus scores 4.1 out of 5, led by top marks for privacy and integration and held back by its narrow UK focus.

Summary

Tortus is a sound choice for NHS practices, trusts and ambulance services that want a regulated AI scribe tied directly into their existing records. Its Class IIa status, published safety figures and NHS evaluation data give it more evidence than most rivals. The main limitations are its UK focus, reported English-only support and quote-based hospital pricing. It supports clinicians with paperwork and does not replace clinical judgement, so every draft still needs careful review. Use the 10 free monthly hours to test a mix of routine, complex and telephone consultations before committing.