Nurses warn government’s plan to fix the NHS with AI will be a disaster
Key Points
- Nurses in England have warned the government against relying on AI to fix the NHS.
- In a joint letter signed by the BMA, RCEM, and Unite, the RCN has said the government's upcoming plan is expected to focus too much on AI to fix the NHS and not enough on growing its understaffed workforce.
- The RCN argues that the government's plan overstates the benefits of AI without evidence, and said that relying on technology over growing the workforce would be a disaster for patients.
Medical professionals across the country have warned the government that the NHS needs more people, not AI agents.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has urged the government to focus less on AI and more on growing workforce across the NHS to avert a disastrous outcome for patients.
The RCN has criticised the government’s upcoming workforce plan, saying that it relies too much on AI and overstates the potential benefits of the technology for the health service without adequate evidence.
In a joint letter with the British Medical Association, Society for Acute Medicine, Royal College of Emergency Medicine, Queen’s Institute of Community Nursing and Unite, the RCN said the government should pause the publication of this plan and rework it to focus more on growing the NHS workforce.
The letter calls out the plan’s expected reliance on AI and digital technology to boost productivity, saying that this assumption overstates the productivity gains that would be provided through AI adoption.
It also explains the state of the NHS in England, pointing to rising demand, increasing complexity of care, and persistent workforce shortages as factors that are causing chaos in the system.
AI cannot replace clinical staff, the letter said, and the signatories called for a fully funded, evidence-based workforce strategy to be put in place to avert poor outcomes for patients.
“Rising demand, ever more complex need and an ageing population are causing chaos in the NHS, with hospitals facing overwhelming pressure and staff increasingly struggling to keep patients safe,” said RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Nicola Ranger.
“Evidence-based, fully funded workforce planning that ensures there are the right number of vital, life-saving staff in place couldn’t be more needed.”
“But we are increasingly concerned the upcoming plan will not reflect the daily reality that staff face and will instead erroneously rely on AI and digital technologies to boost productivity and avoid the need for investment in the workforce,” she said.
“This would be a disaster for patients.”
Microsoft Copilot rolled out to NHS staff
The joint letter comes as NHS England has just announced it will give 505,000 staff access to Microsoft 365 Copilot.
Microsoft claims that by using Copilot, NHS workers will be able to save an average of 43 minutes per day that would otherwise be spent on administrative tasks.
Copilot will be used by the NHS for tasks including drafting letters, patient discharge processes, service data analysis, and more.
As a result of this partnership, NHS England will also be able to build and deploy custom AI agents that can help with complaints, freedom of information requests, and more.
The government has said that technology should support NHS staff, not slow them down, freeing up time spent on administration to instead focus on treating patients.
