Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the withdrawal of funding for AI auto-contouring technology on (a) cancer treatment waiting times, (b) patient outcomes and (c) the workload of NHS cancer specialists; and whether he has considered alternative funding mechanisms for the rollout of that technology.

The Department supports the National Health Service in reviewing opportunities to utilise artificial intelligence (AI) to transform diagnostic performance, bring down waiting times, and support staff with their workload.

Furthermore, the Department is carrying out work to assess the barriers of effective adoption and improve the way AI tools are deployed across the NHS through a number of initiatives, including the NHS AI Lab’s Ethics Initiative, which invests in research and practical interventions that could strengthen the ethical adoption of AI within health and care, and addresses risks and concerns over their use.