Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the press release entitled Faster treatments and support for health workers as AI tackles A&E bottlenecks, published on 28 December 2025, if he will commission an independent evaluation of the potential impact of AI‑enabled A&E systems on NHS organisations utilising them.

Currently, there are no plans for a formal independent evaluation of the potential impact of artificial intelligence (AI) enabled accident and emergency systems on National Health Service organisations. However, NHS England is undertaking an internal evaluation, as the particular AI tool referenced within the press release is an NHS England development, built within the Federated Data Platform.

The tool has been subject to quality assurance and includes built-in metrics to monitor forecast accuracy and performance over time. To date, evaluation has focused on technical robustness, data quality, and usability, rather than the direct impacts on waiting times, which are influenced by multiple factors beyond demand forecasting alone.