The NHS AI Lab has published a roadmap for its work in supporting the deployment of the technology in the health service.
It is based on three pillars and includes plans for a multi-agency advisory service designed to provide information and guidance on the regulation and evaluation of artificial intelligence.
Giusseppe Sollazzo, head of AI skunkworks and deployment in the transformation directorate of NHS England, announced the publication on LinkedIn. Titled NHS AI Lab Roadmap, it charts the progress of the team’s work, with services that are already available, those coming soon and others on the horizon.
The document outlines three strands to the work, on evidencing the potential of AI, building confidence and demonstrating trustworthiness, and clarifying who does what.
A key feature of the latter is an ongoing beta pilot on a multi-agency advisory service for innovators and healthcare providers, a collaboration between the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the Health Research Authority and the Care Quality Commission.
Yellow cards and liability
Other elements under the clarification pillar include further improvements in the MHRA’s ‘yellow card’ technology for smart reporting of adverse incidents, the launch of a liability and accountability project with NHS Resolution, a horizon scanning projects on potential risks in the technology, and the future publication of a position paper on liability and accountability for AI as a medical device.
Under the confidence and trustworthiness pillar, projects include the production of guidance on external validation of AI models, a trial of algorithmic impact assessments and a number of projects related to the application of AI. These include I-SIRch on safety recommendations for patient care and Standing Together on standards and diverse datasets underpinning AI.
Those for evidencing the potential of AI include a national AI strategy for health and social care, the development of further skunkwork AI tools and annual ‘state of the nation’ surveys on AI in health and care.
