Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to regulate the use of artificial intelligence in the healthcare system.

The Department has invested £9.3 million to bolster the safety of artificial intelligence (AI) in health and care, and to ensure the regulatory pathway is clear for both developers and adopters. Ensuring technologies are safe is a top priority and, through this funding, the Department has supported the launch of regulatory projects such as the AI and Digital Regulation Service (AIDRS) and the AI Airlock.

The AIDRS collaborates between the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulation Agency (MHRA), the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the Health Research Authority, and the Care Quality Commission. The service, by providing a collaborative one stop shop of information, advice, and guidance, allows adopters and developers of AI to easily understand what regulatory and evaluation pathways need to be followed before an AI tool can be safety deployed across health and care.

The AI Airlock is an MHRA-led initiative, supported by the NHS AI Lab, designed to create a controlled testing environment where developers can rigorously validate AI tools in real-world clinical settings before full-scale deployment, ensuring they meet National Health Service standards for safety, efficacy, and integration into existing healthcare workflows. The AI Airlock fosters collaboration between developers, regulators, and healthcare providers, and reduces the risks associated with early-stage implementation while providing valuable feedback for developers to refine their products.