Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his department uses AI to automate decision making about access to public services.

The Department develops policy and strategy on the regulation and use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies across health and care. The NHS England Information Governance (IG) Policy Engagement Team are updating their guidance for patients, health care professionals, and IG professionals on the use of AI and patient data in the National Health Service.

Decisions regarding the adoption and deployment of AI tools, including those used for automated decision making, are made at a local level by individual NHS trusts. At present, NHS trusts have autonomy to determine the use of such technologies, taking into account the needs and priorities of their respective organisation, and should evaluate and review the impact of AI deployment within their care settings.

While some trusts may utilise AI to support processes such as prioritisation, access to NHS services is, and will remain, governed by the NHS Constitution. In particular, principle 2 of the NHS Constitution ensures that access is based on clinical need, not on the technology used.