Over the past 12 months, what progress has been made with AI in healthcare? Here we share some of the notable news stories, webinars, deep dives and features.
Last year, the UK Government launched its AI Opportunities Action Plan, accepting recommendations to expand computing capacity, establish AI growth zones, unlock data assets, and share a proposed delivery timeline.
A framework for implementing and monitoring AI in the London health and care system was published in March, covering five key areas: partnership, infrastructure and data, use cases, AI delivery approach, and communication and workforce development. It spans governance, roles, responsibilities, delivery lifecycles, proof of concepts, pilots, data pipelines, business as usual, scaling, through to monitoring.
In June, the government’s publication of a series of human-centred frameworks alongside a practical toolkit for the safe implementation of generative AI, featured nine tips for leaders that are “critical to success”. Based on three stages of adopt, sustain, and optimise; the recommended approach is informed by the deployment of a generative AI tool, Assist, across over 200 government organisations.
The DHSC shared details of planned functionality for the NHS App, to include an AI “My Companion” tool offering patients access to trusted health information, helping them articulate health needs and preferences, and providing information about health conditions or upcoming procedures.
The CQC issued guidance on the use of AI in GP services in July, sharing what it looks at when assessing safety and compliance across areas including procurement, governance, human oversight, learning from errors, data protection, and staff training. Assessors will check AI tools have been procured in line with relevant evidence and regulatory standards such as DCB0160 and DTAC, also reviewing clinical governance arrangements to check appropriate and safe use. There should be a responsible CSO and digital lead for AI technologies, practices should have a hazard log and risk assessments for AI tools, and patients should be made aware AI technologies are being used, it states.
The government announced the launch of the National Commission on the Regulation of AI in Healthcare in September, bringing together expertise from global AI experts, clinicians, and regulators, with an aim to help overcome regulatory hurdles and accelerate the use of AI in the NHS. The commission, including representation from tech suppliers such as Google and Microsoft, aims to review tech that is currently being stalled by regulatory uncertainty, and advise the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency on re-writing of the regulatory rulebook on AI use in healthcare, due to be published in 2026.
Earlier this month, the MHRA issued a call for evidence on the regulation of AI in healthcare, asking members of the public, clinicians, industry, and healthcare providers to share their views on the modernisation of AI rules, keeping patients safe as AI evolves, and the distribution of responsibilities between regulators, companies, healthcare organisations, and individuals.
AI plans and strategy
South West London ICS’s latest digital strategy covering 2025-2028 included AI automation as a core theme, and commits to integrate AI and machine learning “thoughtfully”. The ambition to enable AI to be used in a “safe, ethical manner” has also led the ICS to devise an AI Adoption Framework and Data Quality Framework “to ensure that there is joint ownership and effective governance in place in order to facilitate benefit realisation while providing sustainability”.
North London NHS Foundation Trust used its digital strategy to share plans around using AI to improve operational efficiency and reduce costs, developing the ability to implement new digital tools like AI-enhanced triage, and harnessing capabilities of natural language processing to streamline clinical workflows and grant staff more time to care. “Predictive analytics, powered by AI, will enable staff to anticipate patient needs, improving service delivery and reducing waiting times,” it states.
Somerset NHS Foundation Trust took the approach of sharing a series of communications to help explain to patients how tech like AI, Ambient Voice, and generative AI is being used in their care. The communication sets out uses of AI in planning services and completing administrative tasks, as well as highlighting that during appointments clinicians may use ambient AI for real-time dictation, allowing them the time to focus on delivering care. It reassures patients that they will be told beforehand if the tech will be used during their appointment, and given the option to opt out, adding that opting out “will not negatively impact” the care they receive.
July saw the publication of Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust’s AI Strategy, outlining current and future AI work along with plans for benefits realisation, implementation, AI workforce development, infrastructure and data architecture. A roadmap reveals year one focuses across remote monitoring, ambient AI, Microsoft AI collaboration, clinical decision support, AI coding, and medical imaging. For year two, the roadmap highlights patient-facing virtual assistants, automated scheduling, predictive analytics, and wearables.
Great Ormond Street followed suit with the publication of its own AI Strategy in September, looking at how implementing AI-driven solutions would enhance personalised treatment, improve clinical decision making, and promote effective resource management. In year one, governance, reporting, and monitoring structures will be developed, and a gap analysis will be undertaken to understand current capabilities, infrastructure, and use cases.
Black Country Healthcare updated on a new trust AI oversight committee and Trust Layer to monitor AI usage, which showed ChatGPT was used 27,383 times; Microsoft Copilot used 8,898 times; Canva used 2,533 times; and OpenAI used 1,126 times, over a 30-day period. The board shares findings from its recent Copilot utilisation report, covering deployment to 235 users, and noted work to actively explore Ambient Voice solutions to support clinical workflows.
A short-term AI strategy for 2025 – 2026 from Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust looked at learnings from the first 12 months of AI deployment ahead of a full AI strategy update. It prioritises “high-impact, lower-risk use cases, with rigorous evaluation, human-in-the-loop safeguards and strong governance” across ambient AI, generative AI, agentic AI, and automation.
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust created an AI steering group, publishing a trust-wise AI policy with evaluation frameworks and usage guidelines, and launching the Newton’s Tree AI deployment platform to support AI rollout into live care and research settings.
Welsh Ambulance Services University NHS Trust highlighted its move to phase two of the Microsoft Copilot pilot, with 150 licences distributed to date. 70 evaluation forms have been received from phase one, informing the development of an ongoing education package to help support workforce needs, according to the trust. Following the recruitment of business analysts, a deep dive is expected to progress the development of “meaningful and safe use-cases”, along with AI policy, and automation scale-up opportunities.
An AI Policy from Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has set out a guiding framework to ensure “the appropriate deployment, management, and oversight of AI systems across the DBTH partners”. Its scope covers all departments and services, and AI systems either internally developed or procured from external suppliers. Generative AI “can be used in many ways to enhance the work of DBTH”, it states, but purpose and use must be clearly defined and agreed, including the reason for use, intended benefits, and how impact or value will be measured.
A governance framework has been developed for digital innovation including AI at South West Yorkshire Partnership Teaching NHS Foundation Trust, covering procurement, IT, information governance, and clinical safety. An AI adoption & governance group has been established with subject matter experts in post, producing communications informing staff of the trust’s current position on AI. “An AI risk appetite assessment matrix has also been devised that will help to determine the degree of pace in which particular AI solutions can be considered for deployment within the trust,” the trust states, and an AI community of interest group will be launched to explore opportunities for use, chaired by the trust CCIO.
Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust’s latest digital strategy and new AI framework have set out objectives, principles, and guidelines on the implementation of technology across the trust and the future use of AI. AI applications will be split into four domains: clinical support, operational automation, patient-facing technologies, and data analytics, according to the framework, with each assigned defined criteria for evaluation.
At Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, an AI & Automation Steering Group has been established, with plans for 2026 to include the launch of an ambient voice technology pilot, and expansion of AI and automation to support clinical and operational efficiency. The pilot of ambient voice technology will be carried out with 30 consultants across dermatology, trauma and orthopaedic specialities. Following a review of outcomes, the trust has the opportunity to use licenses purchased by the ICB to fund an extended 12-month pilot.
The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust is utilising AI in developing models for predicting non-attendance and length of stay, with a dynamic dashboard also developed to report on survival, toxicity, and 30-day mortality. Ambient Voice Technology is being piloted by the trust’s digital team, and Clatterbridge has committed to getting involved in a regional pilot.
Elsewhere, providers including Derby and Derbyshire ICB, are making the commitment to exploring AI’s potential through pilots of solutions such as Microsoft Copilot for things like document summarisation. Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership has ambitions to deploy AI in supporting clinical care delivery and reducing clinical admin time. The Christie NHS Foundation Trust shares that a business case for Ambient Voice Technology was recently approved, with rollout beginning in surgical services.
Insights and learnings from across the health sector
Our HTN Now webinar series has produced significant insights and learnings around AI and best practices for AI implementation over the last 12 months, with some of our favourite sessions including a discussion on the practicalities of AI technologies, exploring topics including implementation, adoption, the role of data, policy, regulation, evaluation and best practices. Panellists included Neill Crump, digital strategy director at The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust; Lee Rickles, CIO, director and deputy SIRO at Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust; and Beatrix Fletcher, senior programme manager (AI) at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.
A webinar later in the year focused on AI approaches, safety, policy, regulation, and evaluation; the panel included Anil Mistry, AI safety lead and senior clinical scientist in AI at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust; and Matea Deliu, GP clinical lead and clinical lead for primary care digital delivery, South East London ICB; and Neill Crump, digital strategy director at The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust.
An Ambient AI webinar looked specifically at the use of ambient scribe technology at NHS trusts, with HTN joined by a panel including Lauren Riddle, transformation programme manager at Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare (HIoW); Ynez Symonds, CNIO at HIoW; Dom Pimenta, co-founder and CEO at Tortus AI; and Stuart Kyle, consultant rheumatologist and clinical lead for outpatient transformation at Royal Devon University Hospital.
A panel including Peter Thomas, chief clinical information officer and director of digital development at Moorfields Eye Hospital; Sally Mole, senior digital programme manager – digital portfolio delivery team at The Dudley Group; and Ananya Datta, associate director of primary care digital delivery, South East London ICS; tackled the topic of AI in practice across the NHS, sharing approaches, best practices, challenges, and learnings.
