The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) has announced a £21 million fund to promote the use of AI in the diagnosis and treatment of patients.
It said that NHS trusts will be able to apply to the AI Diagnostic Fund for support in accelerating the deployment of AI imaging and support tools for helping patients with cancers, strokes, heart and other conditions.
The fund will be open for bids to use any AI diagnostic tools that trusts want to deploy, but they will have to show value for money for applications to be approved.
DHSC has also committed to rolling out AI stroke diagnosis technology to all stroke networks in the NHS by the end of this year, compared to a rate of 86% today.
Transforming healthcare
Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said: “Artificial intelligence is already transforming the way we deliver healthcare and AI tools are already making a significant impact across the NHS in diagnosing conditions earlier, meaning people can be treated more quickly.
“As we celebrate the NHS’s 75th birthday and look ahead to the future, I’m focused on adopting the latest cutting edge technology across our health and care system to ensure we can continue to deliver the best care for our patients and cut waiting times, which is one of the government’s five priorities.”
DHSC said it has already invested £123 million in 86 AI technologies, and recently announced the establishment of an AI and Digital Regulation Service to help NHS staff find information and guidance in deploying devices safely.
