A gynaecological cancer charity has launched an artificial intelligence (AI) tool to ease pressure on its specialist nurses amid a dramatic increase in demand.
The Eve Appeal has seen a 1,141% rise in enquiries to its nurse-led advice line, Ask Eve, from members of the public with gynaecological health concerns over the past two years.
“Ask Eve Assist has helped us manage this pressure by safely answering routine questions”
Helen Hyndman
The spike in demand has been fuelled by the 2024 closure of a different gynaecological cancer charity, Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust, which had provided a similar advice service.
Following its liquidation, Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust gifted all of its content to the Eve Appeal and its now-defunct website points people directly to Ask Eve.
The resulting surge in enquiries to Ask Eve had placed “significant pressure” on the two nurses who run it, one of whom only works part time, said the Eve Appeal.
In a bid to ease this pressure, the charity has launched a new AI-powered information service called Ask Eve Assist that is available 24/7 and gives people immediate answers to common questions.
The charity said Ask Eve Assist only drew from its own validated health information, rather than the internet as a whole, which it believed made it more trustworthy than generic AI platforms.
Specialist nurses, as well as people with lived experience of gynaecological cancers, were involved in the design of Ask Eve Assist, said the charity.
The nurse-led service is still available for those who would prefer that over AI, and people whose case is too complex for Ask Eve Assist will be referred to the nurses.
During a trial involving 359 users, Ask Eve Assist “successfully” handled nearly 95% of enquiries without requiring nurse intervention, while 19 cases were escalated to the nurse service, reported the charity.
Helen Hyndman, Ask Eve lead nurse, said: “As a nurse, one of the hardest parts of the growing demand for Ask Eve was knowing that many people required more intensive support than we had time to provide.
Helen Hyndman
“Ask Eve Assist has helped us manage this pressure by safely answering routine questions, allowing us to spend more time with those who need specialist care.
“Nothing can replace speaking to a nurse, but Ask Eve Assist helps us make immediate support available to people when they need it.”
The charity said its decision to launch the AI platform was also inspired by concerns about people getting inaccurate health advice from unreliable AI sources.
It conducted an investigation posing as patients and found that “red flag” symptoms of gynaecological cancer were missed by one popular generic AI platform.
The launch follows new research published by Columbia University School of Nursing in New York this month showing that most patients prefer to wait for medical advice from a health professional rather than get it immediately from AI.