Self Hosted AI for GP Practices: In the Surgery, Run by Us
A practice’s IT is the clinical system, the NHS network and whatever the ICB provides — none of which will run an AI machine for the practice office. Keep the machine in the surgery; leave the running to us, and keep it away from anything clinical.
£500 per month for the software and the hardware rental. You rent the machine — you don’t buy it.
Self hosted AI for GP practices means AI running on a machine in the surgery rather than a provider’s cloud. It reads policies, complaint files, PCN reports and patient letters, is not connected to the clinical system, and is rented to the practice, then installed, backed up, updated and supported by us.
Keep the control, lose the admin
A short call with the practice manager or a partner. Bring your DSPT lead; we will walk through the data flow.
One rented machine in the practice office. Policies, correspondence and chat history live on it; we keep it running.
Cloud Agents for the Phone, Local AI for Practice Documents
Appointment calls and the admin inbox suit a hosted agent; practice policies, complaints correspondence and hospital letters suit a machine inside the surgery. Many practices run both.
- ☁ Cloud-based AI Receptionist
- ☁ Cloud-based Email Manager
- ☁ Cloud-based Leads Outreach
- 🏢 On-premise Local AI
What Self Hosting AI Actually Involves
Self-hosting is attractive for one reason — control — and off-putting for one reason — upkeep. Here is the upkeep for GP practices, itemised.
| The job | Self-host it yourself | Self-hosted with us |
|---|---|---|
| Choose the hardware | You research and buy it; hope it runs the model | Specified for your team, rented to you, not sold |
| Install the model and the tools | Your IT person, evenings and weekends | Done by us, in the surgery |
| Connect access control | Build it, or share a login | Your Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace sign-in |
| Backups and a replacement plan | If you remember | Agreed before go-live, run by us |
| Updates and model upgrades | You, testing each one | Us, with you, as part of support |
| Who controls the machine and owns the data | You | You |
In the Practice, Outside the Clinical System, Run by Us
GP practices have a particular reason to want AI in their own building: the Data Security and Protection Toolkit asks, every year, where practice and patient data is processed and by whom, and “on a machine in the practice office” is the shortest honest answer available. A cloud AI subscription adds a processor to name and assess; a machine in the practice adds a line the DSPT lead can write in one sentence.
What a practice cannot do is run it, because nobody on the practice’s IT side is set up to. The clinical system is supported by its supplier, the network by the ICB or its contractor, and neither will install a model runtime, test a model upgrade or restore a document machine from backup on a Monday morning. In a practice, self-hosting would land on the practice manager, who already carries the DSPT, the complaints log and the CQC calendar.
Our arrangement gives the practice the control and takes the running. The machine is rented to the practice, not sold, and sits in the practice office. Policies, complaint files, reports, leaflets and chat history live on it; who in the office sees what follows the Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace sign-in staff already use. The practice decides what is retained and when a model upgrade happens. We specify, install in the practice office, back up, update and support, under a data processing agreement the DSPT lead can quote from.
And the machine stays outside the clinical record. It is not connected to the clinical system, it is not for clinical decisions, and it is not a medical device; clinical questions go to a clinician. Self hosting AI for a surgery, done properly, is an administrative machine in the practice, that someone else keeps running, and that never touches a patient record.
What Runs on the Machine in Your Building
Control stays with you, and the machine is rented, not sold. The list of what ships is the same for every client, because the product is the same.
Private chat
A ChatGPT-style assistant for the team, on your own machine. Questions, uploads, drafts — none of it going to an outside service.
Document spaces
Files and correspondence organised into spaces. Search, summarise and compare across hundreds of documents, with citations to the page each answer came from.
Custom assistants
The recurring report, the standard memo, the routine check — built around your workflows and running on the same machine.
| Document | What the practice asks for | What stays where |
|---|---|---|
| Policies and procedures | Find it, check the review date, cite the page | On the machine, in the surgery |
| Complaint files | A draft response from the file and your complaints policy | On the machine, in the surgery |
| PCN and contract reporting | The quarterly report assembled from submissions | On the machine, in the surgery |
| Patient letters and leaflets | A draft in the practice’s wording | On the machine, in the surgery |
| National guidance and CQC evidence | A summary against what the practice already does | On the machine, in the surgery |
| Clinical records | Not used — stays in the clinical system | Your clinical system |
From Practice Manager’s Call to a Machine in the Practice
Weeks, not months. Most practices start with the policies folder or the complaints process; PCNs usually start with one practice.
A call with the practice manager
List size, PCN role, how many staff, which paperwork goes first. We specify the machine from that and walk through the data flow with your DSPT lead.
Install and import
The machine goes on the practice network. Sign-in connects to your Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace. Policies, templates and correspondence are imported into spaces.
Train the office, then support
We train the practice manager, reception and admin team on what it does and what it is not for, then keep the software and models current.
Where Local AI Is the Wrong Answer
We would rather lose the enquiry than the trust. Three things we tell every prospect before they sign anything.
It is not the answer if you have the person
If GP practices already employ someone who runs servers and would enjoy running this one, self-hosting it yourself is a reasonable choice. Our arrangement is for the ones that do not.
It is slower than the big cloud models
Open-weight models on a single machine are capable for summarising, drafting and answering questions about your own documents. For frontier reasoning on hard, novel problems, the largest cloud models are still ahead. That is the trade.
It is a weeks-long install, not a sign-up
A cloud agent is live in days. Local AI needs the machine specified, delivered, installed on your network and your documents imported. Weeks, not months — but not tomorrow.
We Self-Host Our Own
Control is real
The machine is rented to you, but it runs on your network, in the surgery, under your access rules. Nothing about the arrangement makes you dependent on our servers.
Upgrades on your schedule
A new model changes the answers your team relies on, so model upgrades happen with you, not to you.
Backups agreed up front
Schedule and replacement arrangement settled before go-live, as part of support, not as an afterthought.
One DPA, narrowly drawn
We are a processor only for the support access you grant, under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, with the ICO as regulator.
Which Page Answers Your Practice’s Question
| If your question is… | The short answer | Read more |
|---|---|---|
| The general case for self-hosting | The job list, and who does each item | Self-hosted AI |
| We want the Local AI overview for GP practices | The head page for surgeries | Local AI for GP practices |
| What exactly is installed in the surgery? | One machine in the office, supported | On-Premises AI for gp practices |
| What does our DSPT lead need? | No processor, no transfer, for the AI step | GDPR Compliant AI for gp practices |
| The 8am phone queue is the real problem | A hosted agent, live in days | AI Receptionist |
| We are a dental practice, not a GP | In the practice; we run it | Self-Hosted AI for dental practices |
| Why on-premises at all? | The case for Local AI, in full | Local AI product page |
Self-Hosting AI for GP Practices: Common Questions
What is self hosted AI?
AI models running on hardware you control, in the surgery, rather than on a provider’s servers. Your prompts, documents and chat history stay on that machine. With ours the machine is rented to you and we handle the install, updates and support.
What does self hosting AI involve if we do it ourselves?
Choosing and buying hardware, installing the model runtime and the tools around it, connecting access control, importing documents, arranging backups, applying updates, testing model upgrades, and being the person everyone rings when it stops. A standing IT job, not a weekend project.
Does the ICB or our clinical system supplier need to be involved?
Only to know the machine exists on the practice network. It is not connected to the clinical system and does not touch the NHS applications. We walk through the network arrangement with your DSPT lead on the first call so nothing is a surprise.
Can a PCN have one machine for several practices?
A PCN can rent a machine for its own office for PCN-level reporting, assembled from the submissions the practices provide. Each practice’s own documents stay on that practice’s machine. Most PCNs start with one practice and decide from there.
Does it connect to our clinical system?
No, and it should not. The clinical record stays in your clinical system. It works on the documents around the practice — policies, correspondence, reports, leaflets — which are imported into spaces on the machine.
How does it fit with the Data Security and Protection Toolkit?
The DSPT asks you to know where data is processed and by whom. With a machine in the surgery the answer is: here, by nobody else. There is no third-party AI processor and no transfer for the work it does. Bring your DSPT lead or Caldicott Guardian to the call.
How much does Local AI cost?
£500 per month for the software and the hardware rental. The dedicated machine is rented to your business, not sold: you never buy the hardware. It is installed in your building and runs the private chat, document spaces and assistants. Local AI is for business customers only.
Keep the Machine, Not the Job
Tell us your list size and who looks after the practice network today. One short call to size the machine, with your DSPT lead welcome on the line.
Prefer email? sghaith@businessaiagents.co.uk