UK to trial AI with millions of NHS patients
Millions of patients could receive quicker diagnoses and treatment, as pioneering artificial intelligence tools are tested on an unprecedented scale in NHS screening services, thanks to a ground-breaking new cloud system.
A new AI research screening platform dubbed AIR-SP – backed by nearly £6 million in government funding – is being built by NHS England to enable trusts across the country to join trials of AI in screening to help speed up diagnosis.
It will offer NHS staff access to revolutionary AI tools in trials to help analyse screening images and pinpoint abnormalities, including possible signs of cancer.
Currently, the NHS lacks the digital tools to deploy AI in screening quickly, safely, and at scale – 90% of AI tools remain stuck in pilot phases due to over-reliance on temporary IT setups in each individual trust.
Even if one tool is deemed effective by one trust, every single other trust in the NHS must start the process of testing the tool from scratch and set up new databases to access images generated by the AI.
The new NHS-wide cloud will hold multiple AI tools in a single environment that will have secure connections to all NHS trusts. It will dramatically cut down the time and costs associated with rolling out AI research studies, as the government’s Plan for Change shifts the health service from analogue to digital.
The new platform, which will take approximately two years to build, means futuristic tools could in future be tested and trialled at the same time, in any trust across the health service, with a view to rolling them out to the NHS frontline if they’re proved effective.
It will first be used to support nearly 700,000 women across the country taking part in a historic National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR)-funded trial, identifying changes in breast tissue that show possible signs of cancer and referring them for further investigations if required.
As it stands, costly IT solutions across multiple trusts – up to £3.5 million per study – are required for each research study involving several projects to ensure AI access to images. The new unified platform will simplify this process, reducing costs by millions of pounds per study, and enabling multiple AI products to be tested in one secure environment. It is expected to save £2-3 million for every multi-site study.
The building of the digital platform is being funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research and is expected to be rolled out for research purposes in 2027.
