Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the readiness of specialist artificial intelligence tools for clinical use in the NHS.

The Government recognises the significant potential of specialist artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support clinical decision-making, improve patient outcomes, and increase National Health Service productivity.

Specialist AI tools are already in use, particularly in medical imaging, where AI supports clinicians by prioritising cases and improving diagnostic efficiency. AI-powered chest X-ray tools, acting as a “second pair of eyes”, have already supported more than four million patients to receive faster lung cancer diagnoses or all-clear results, and are in use across approximately half of NHS trusts.

The Government is investing £20 million to roll out this proven technology to all NHS trusts in England by 2029, alongside further funding to pilot next-generation AI tools across a range of clinical pathways.

Clinical responsibility remains with trained professionals, with AI acting as a decision-support. Readiness is assessed through robust regulatory, evaluation, and governance frameworks, working with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, and the Care Quality Commission to support safe adoption across the NHS.