The UK Government has announced it will fund £21m to roll out AI healthcare technology across the NHS.
Announced today by the Health and Social Care Secretary, this landmark investment aims to harness the power of AI to improve patient care, optimise resource allocation, and enhance overall efficiency within the healthcare system.
The decision to integrate AI into the NHS comes as part of the government’s commitment to advancing technological innovation and addressing the challenges faced by the healthcare sector.
NHS Trusts can apply to the AI Diagnostic Fund to accelerate the development of the most exciting AI imaging and decision support tools. These innovative AI healthcare technologies will rapidly diagnose cancer, stroke, and heart conditions.
Speaking on the development, Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said: “Artificial Intelligence is already transforming how we deliver healthcare, and AI tools are already making a significant impact across the NHS in diagnosing conditions earlier, meaning people can be treated more quickly.
“As we celebrate the NHS’s 75th birthday and look ahead to the future, I’m focused on adopting the latest cutting-edge technology across our health and care system to ensure we can continue to deliver the best care for our patients and cut waiting times, which is one of the government’s five priorities.”
AI healthcare is already transforming the NHS
AI healthcare is already having a positive effect on patient outcomes and alleviates time-consuming tasks for the NHS workforce.
In some cases, AI is halving the time for stroke patients to get the essential treatment they need and is helping doctors diagnose stroke faster. Rapid diagnosis can triple a patient’s chances of living independently.
The UK Government has already invested £123m into 86 AI healthcare technologies to optimise cancer screening, cardiovascular screening, stroke diagnosis, and monitoring conditions at home.
The AI Diagnostic Fund looks to build on this investment to revolutionise the NHS.
What technologies will the AI Diagnostic Fund develop?
The AI Diagnostic Fund will support using AI tools to analyse chest X-Rays, the primary technique to identify lung cancer – the UK’s leading cause of death.
In England, over 600,000 chest X-rays are performed monthly, meaning AI tools will help support rapid diagnosis for millions of patients each year and improve outcomes.
Secretary of State for Science, Innovation, and Technology, Chloe Smith, explained: “Improving diagnosis and speeding up treatments for patients through AI is a game-changer.
“The application of AI across the NHS is supported by our balanced regulatory approach and has the potential to be truly transformative, both for patients and our unrivalled health and social care workforce both now and in the decades to come.”
The UK is also committing to rolling out AI stroke diagnosis technology to 100% of stroke networks by the end of 2023 to accelerate treatment times.
Funding will be open for bids for any AI diagnostic tool that NHS Trust wish to deploy, although they will have to demonstrate value for money for the funding to be approved.
