Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the safeguards required for the use of artificial intelligence to triage patients through the NHS app.

The Government is committed to safeguarding patients as part of the shift from analogue to digital National Health Services, as set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency regulates artificial intelligence (AI) tools that provide clinical assessment to ensure they are safe for patient use in the NHS. NHS organisations deploying such tools must also comply with risk management standards and with the Digital Technology Assessment Criteria.

NHS England is developing national triage standards setting out the clinical principles, urgency thresholds, and performance expectations against which any AI-enabled triage will be assured before use and continuously evaluated against.

The Government has also established the National Commission into the regulation of AI in healthcare, which will advise on the future regulatory framework of AI.