UK’s first AI-powered physio more than halves back pain waiting lists

The UK’s first AI-powered physiotherapy clinic has shown promising results in its first large-scale deployment in the NHS in England.

Called Flok Health, the clinic was created by a team of physiotherapy and AI experts based in Cambridge and saw its first large-scale UK deployment earlier this year, when it was rolled out to more than a million patients by NHS Lothian in Scotland.

The clinic is the first digital musculoskeletal (MSK) service to have been approved by the CQC, and has also achieved medical device certification under MHRA regulations.

Created using video footage of a human physiotherapist, the pioneering digital clinic is able to offer NHS patients personalised treatment for back pain at population scale, with zero waitlist, in a setting which feels like a video call with a physiotherapist.

The technology was deployed in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough in February by Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust (CCS): the first NHS organisation in England to make Flok’s AI clinic available to patients across a range of community healthcare settings including self-referred and clinician-referred patients.

According to the NHS, over 30 million working days are lost to MSK conditions like back pain every year in the UK, with MSK problems accounting for up to 30 per cent of GP appointments. Addressing the causes of ill health and economic inactivity will be key to the government’s efforts to relieve pressure on care services, as well as to turn the NHS into an engine of economic growth.

Mike Passfield, Deputy Director from Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust, commented: “We’re proud to have been the first NHS organisation in England to deploy Flok Health’s AI powered physiotherapy clinic at scale. The impact has been extraordinary, delivering same-day access to care for thousands of patients, reducing back pain waiting lists by over 50 per cent, and freeing up clinicians to focus on other patients with complex MSK conditions.”

AI tackles MSK waits in Cambridgeshire

Patients living in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough were able to access Flok over a twelve-week period between the beginning of February and the end of May 2025.

This was part of a pilot deployment commissioned by CCS in partnership with the GIRFT Further Faster Programme – an initiative bringing together NHS clinicians and operational teams to improve access and waiting times for patients.

When the AI clinic first went live in Cambridgeshire, waiting times for elective community musculoskeletal (MSK) services in the region stood at eighteen weeks.

Over the course of twelve weeks, the deployment of Flok (in combination with initiatives including MSK “superclinics” and community assessment days) reduced waiting times for all MSK conditions across CCS by 44 per cent, to under 10 weeks.

One patient, Sharon McMahon, a primary school teacher from Hardwick, revealed the impact that Flok had on her recovery following an incidence of back pain that left her unable to work for two weeks: “An NHS physio suggested I try Flok. I was initially disappointed not to be receiving face-to-face care. I’m not disappointed now. The AI clinic has delivered exactly the same results as I’d expect from a traditional physio – and much more quickly.

“I started my treatment the same day, and was able to get appointments and complete exercises whenever I liked. My back was back to normal after a couple of weeks, but I’m still using the app twice a week to manage pain when I get flare ups or spasms.

“If it wasn’t for Flok, I might still be waiting for an in-person appointment or be paying to see someone privately. I’d recommend the app to anyone.”

Flok’s AI clinic – the only intervention deployed specifically to treat back pain – exclusively reduced waiting lists for back pain by 55 per cent, and saved 856 hours of clinician time per month within the Trust.

Patients who accessed Flok’s digital service were able to do so immediately, experiencing waits of zero days.

Of the patients treated via the AI pathway, fewer than 2 per cent requested or required referral to a traditional face-to-face service. That means more than 98 per cent were triaged, treated and discharged via the digital service, relieving pressure on existing pathways and enabling clinicians to see patients who wanted or needed face-to-face appointments faster and for longer.

More than 2,500 patients living in Cambridge and Peterborough accessed the AI clinic over the twelve-week period.

AI physiotherapy exceeds patient satisfaction targets

After using Flok Health, 8 in 10 (80 per cent) patients in Cambridgeshire reported that their experience with Flok had been “equivalent or better” than traditional face-to-face physiotherapy.

78 per cent of patients reported that their overall experience with Flok had been “good” or “very good”, exceeding patient satisfaction targets set by CCS at the outset of the project.

Mike Passfield added: “What matters most to us is making sure patients get the right care quickly and safely and this pilot has shown that innovation like Flok can truly transform how we deliver services.

“This pilot has demonstrated how innovation, when safely and thoughtfully integrated into NHS pathways, can dramatically improve access, outcomes and patient experience. We look forward to working with Flok to explore how this service can be scaled across our region to benefit even more people.”

Finn Stevenson, co-Founder and CEO of Flok Health, said: “Seeing the impact our service has had in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough – which is also where our team lives and works – has been incredibly meaningful.

“Our AI clinic enables patients to access world-class MSK care immediately, whilst freeing up traditional clinical capacity for patients who want or need to see a clinician in person.

“We look forward to continuing to work closely with our innovative NHS partners to deliver gold-standard, scalable MSK care to patients in Cambridgeshire and across the UK.”

Data from an early trial at Cambridge University Hospitals in 2023 indicated that the AI clinic had helped reduce wait times for physiotherapy, with wait lists for in-person musculoskeletal appointments increasing by more than 50 per cent once the pilot had ended and the AI clinic was no longer in use.

Following the success of the pilot, Flok is working with CCS to explore permanently rolling out the digital service to patients in the region.

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