NHS: Artificial Intelligence

Debate between Lord Holmes of Richmond and Lord O'Shaughnessy

Tuesday 24th April 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Holmes of Richmond]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to encourage the adoption of artificial intelligence in the National Health Service.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care (Lord O’Shaughnessy) (Con)]

My Lords, the Government believe that artificial intelligence, or AI, has the potential to transform health and care services. Our work to support this includes £4.2 billion of spending to update hospital IT infrastructure as well as the digital health technology catalyst, which provides funding to help small and medium-sized enterprises turn innovative ideas into reality. In addition, the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund is supporting AI programmes in digital pathology and radiology, with winners of the wave 3 competition announced next month. We will continue to ensure that our regulatory frameworks protect patients while enabling the benefits of AI to transform care.

[Lord Holmes of Richmond (Con)]

My Lords, does my noble friend agree that the potential benefits to the National Health Service from AI go far further than just the clinical setting? For example, DNAs currently cost the service in excess of £1 billion. What more can be done to generate proofs of concept and work, not just in London but across the country, to ensure that AI machine learning, with all its benefits, can be put into making the NHS the greatest health service, not only in patient care but in taking up all the advantages of the fourth industrial revolution?

[Lord O’Shaughnessy]

My Lords, I thank my noble friend for his question and congratulate him and the rest of the committee on the excellent report, AI in the UK: Ready, Willing and Able?, which has a substantial chapter on AI’s application in healthcare. The potential to transform every element of health and care is susceptible to artificial intelligence. A couple of areas outside the clinical setting that I would highlight are workforce planning and triaging patients between different forms of care. As for support, in addition to the items in my first Answer, I highlight the work of the Topol review, which is designed to make sure that staff are fully equipped and trained to take advantage of these technologies as they come through the system, rather than letting them sit with a few early adopters and not becoming more widespread in the NHS.