NHS Trusts to have access to artificial intelligence for diagnosis and treatment

NHS Trusts can apply to the AI Diagnostic Fund to speed up the deployment of AI imaging and decision support tools to help diagnose patients more quickly for conditions including cancers, strokes and heart conditions.

The Health and Social Care secretary has also committed to rolling out AI stroke-diagnosis technology to all stroke networks by the end of 2023, helping patients suffering from a stroke get treated faster. The ring-fenced funding was announced by Health and Social Care secretary, Steve Barclay.

This AI Diagnostic Fund will include the use of AI tools to analyse chest X-Rays. With over 600,000 chest X-rays performed each month in England, the deployment of diagnostic AI tools to more NHS Trusts will support clinicians to diagnose cancer patients earlier, improving patient outcomes.

The use of AI in the NHS is already having a positive impact on outcomes for patients, with AI in some cases halving the time for stroke patients to get the treatment they need by helping doctors diagnose stroke faster, which has been shown to triple the chance of patients living independently after a stroke.