Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the role of artificial intelligence-assisted diagnostic tools in improving the early detection of skin cancer.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Through the National Cancer Plan the Government is committed to speeding up the detection and diagnosis of cancer, including skin cancer, ensuring safe use of artificial intelligence (AI) based decision tools.
The plan sets out how we will support pathologists to work more efficiently through a £604 million investment in digital diagnostics, including digital pathology, and £96 million in the automation of histopathology, as well as further investment in digital technology and AI.
Additionally, the NHS Cancer Programme is leading the national rollout of teledermatology to improve the speed of skin cancer diagnosis and increase productivity.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) routinely evaluates medical technologies, including innovative AI-enabled technologies, and makes recommendations on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of products for the health and social care services in England. NICE has recommended the use of an AI technology for assessing and triaging skin lesions for patients in the National Health Service suspected skin cancer pathway.
This AI tool, DERM, can distinguish between benign and cancerous skin lesions with nearly 99.7% accuracy, and is now being used in 25 NHS trusts as a part of the NHS's rollout of ‘teledermatology’. Further evidence on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of the tool is currently being collected.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking through health research and innovation programmes to support the use of artificial intelligence in the development of treatments for neurological conditions.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department delivers research into neurological conditions via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR is funding Developing safe conversational artificial intelligence for specialist NHS neurology services. This research will explore the quality, safety, fairness, and acceptability of clinical artificial intelligence (AI) assistants in the National Health Service.
The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care topics, including the use of AI in the development of treatments for neurological conditions. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.
Launching this June, the NIHR Innovation Catalyst is designed to accelerate the development and evaluation of innovative health technologies, such as AI. It brings together funding, infrastructure, and expertise to help innovators generate the evidence needed to move technologies more quickly towards real‑world use. Overall, it aims to get effective new technologies to patients faster.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use of AI technologies in residential care settings to reduce falls and emergency hospital admissions; and what plans they have for the funding and regulation of those technologies in the adult social care sector.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Falls can have a significant impact on quality of life, and the human cost of falling includes distress, pain, injury, loss of confidence, loss of independence, and mortality. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) reports that, in 2022/23, there were approximately 210,000 emergency hospital admissions in England related to falls among people aged 65 years old and over.
Our Adult Social Care Technology Fund sought to identify care-focused technology solutions that have the potential for wider rollout within the sector, providing evidence to prioritise investments in care technology. Emerging evidence from Government-funded independent evaluations indicates that artificial intelligence (AI) enabled technologies, such as the Nobi smart lamp, help people live at home for longer and can prevent falls and “long lies” in care homes by between 37% and 49%, as well as reduce hospital admissions and free up staff time. The evaluation reports will be published on a rolling basis from May 2026.
The Government recognises the potential of digital and AI‑enabled technologies to support prevention and improve outcomes in adult social care. In the next year, we will set new standards for care technologies, including falls technologies, and develop trusted guidance so that people and care providers know which technologies are fit for purpose, secure, and compatible with the wider health and social care systems in the future. This will support care providers and people to make more informed, long-term investment decisions. We have commissioned NICE to develop a new evidence standards framework for adult social care technologies which builds on the strong foundations of NICE’s Evidence Standards Framework for digital health technologies.
To support the responsible use of AI, we have published guidance for care providers outlining relevant use cases and considerations for safe and ethical adoption. NHS England has published guidance and standards to support the responsible adoption of AI, and operates within a strong regulatory and assurance framework, working with bodies including the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, NICE, the Health Research Authority, and the Care Quality Commission. We are also setting out the Government’s strategic approach to AI in adult social care, alongside its approach to AI in health, through the National AI Roadmap, as set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use of AI tools in supporting the treatment and management of cancer in the NHS; and what steps they are taking to ensure that those tools improve patient outcomes while maintaining safety and data protection standards.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the significant potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to support the treatment and management of cancer across the National Health Service, particularly through improving diagnostic accuracy, supporting clinical decision making, and helping clinicians prioritise care more effectively.
The Department is focusing the £21 million AI Diagnostic Fund on the deployment of technologies in key, high-demand areas, such as chest X-Ray and chest computed tomography scans, to enable faster diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer in over half of acute trusts in England.
The Government and NHS England are committed to the safe, ethical, and evidence-based adoption of AI. All AI technologies used in the NHS must meet robust regulatory requirements, including approval from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulation Agency, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the Health Research Authority, and the Care Quality Commission, as well as UK General Data Protection Regulations, and the Data Protection Act 2018.
NHS organisations remain responsible for deciding whether to deploy AI technologies locally, based on clinical need, safety, value for money, and alignment with national standards. The Government will continue to work closely with NHS England, regulators, and clinicians to ensure AI is used in ways that improve cancer outcomes while maintaining the highest standards of safety, transparency, and data protection.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the reliability of AI systems in supporting medical diagnosis, particularly in cases where patient data is incomplete; and what steps they are taking to ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect patient safety and support clinical decision-making.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to support clinicians in medical diagnosis, while being clear that such technologies must be safe, effective, and used appropriately.
AI systems in healthcare are intended to support, not replace, clinical judgement. Their reliability depends in part on the quality and completeness of patient data, and the Government is clear that a qualified healthcare professional must remain involved in decision‑making. Managing risks associated with incomplete data requires both robust system design and wider improvements in how patient information is accessed and shared across the health and care system.
All AI technologies used for medical diagnosis in the National Health Service must comply with medical device regulations and clinical safety standards. These should specifically consider risks such as false positives, false negatives, and performance degradation where data are incomplete.
The Government is also improving data foundations through the development of a Single Patient Record, which aims to provide a clear, unified view of a patient’s history wherever they have received care. This will support safer, faster, and better‑informed clinical decision‑making by enabling seamless access across care settings, while building on existing systems such as Electronic Patient Records, Shared Care Records, and the Federated Data Platform.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the role of AI tools in supporting the early detection and diagnosis of cardiovascular conditions; and what steps they are taking to support the safe and effective adoption of those technologies in the NHS.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is actively deploying artificial intelligence (AI) technologies across the National Health Service to support the earlier detection and diagnosis of cardiovascular conditions. We are supporting the safe and effective adoption of AI tools such as AI-assisted echocardiography, automated electrocardiogram interpretation and digital stethoscope recordings. We are supporting this through robust regulatory and assurance processes, closely aligned to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s Evidence Standards Framework for Digital Health Technologies, ensuring that AI technologies are clinically validated and used to support, not replace, professional clinical judgement.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the role of AI in supporting personalised healthcare and extending patient life expectancy; and what plans they have to develop a strategy for safe and effective integration of AI technologies in the NHS.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to establish a statutory inquiry into maternity services.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Guardian article Alarm in health service over Palantir staff being given NHS email accounts, published on 8 April, stating that external technology contractors have been granted access to NHS systems and communications; and what safeguards are in place to ensure data security, patient confidentiality and appropriate oversight.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use of AI and data analytics platforms by the NHS, including in partnerships with private technology providers; and what steps they are taking to ensure that use of those platforms complies with standards of data protection and transparency.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.