Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use of artificial intelligence technologies to streamline NHS patient records to allow records to be accessible across different hospitals and practices.

Improved digital and data infrastructure, such as Electronic Patient Records, are essential foundations for digital transformation. Many National Health Service trusts currently have out-of-date computers and devices, and poor clinical system interoperability limiting access to clinical information at the point of care.

New tools that use artificial intelligence (AI) to analyse text records and make them accessible for hospitals are currently being trialled in several NHS trusts. These tools can analyse patient records, doctors’ notes and letters to recognise their meaning and accurately assign the correct details to the patient record in a more structured and accessible fashion. Early trials have shown positive results, such as helping identify bottlenecks in patient journeys through the system and facilitating recruitment to clinical trials, as well as improved communication between different hospitals and practices.

NHS England is developing guidance for those adopting or considering adopting ambient voice technologies, where the latest generation uses advanced AI technologies to convert spoken words into text used for clinical documentation, such as patient records. This process needs minimal intervention from users, though they still need to review and approve the text produced. They are currently being trialled in several local organisations and early results show they can significantly reduce the time clinical staff need to spend on administration.

The NHS AI Lab and Sciencewise held a public dialogue on how the public feels decisions should be made about access to their personal health data for AI purposes. The NHS AI Lab conducted a discovery exercise to design approaches based on insights from the public, which is now informing broader data stewardship initiatives, including where AI is used in relation to patient records. There are strict safeguards in place throughout the NHS to protect data. All providers of services which handle patient data must protect that data in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation, and Data Protection Act 2018.