News, NHS trust

Kent Community Health NHS to procure MSK physiotherapy AI service

Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust has issued a prior information notice sharing its intent to procure an MSK physiotherapy AI service.

Seeking a UK-based service using AI to drive care delivery, the trust outlines requirements for a “readily available, comprehensive, end-to-end clinical pathway for both new and existing patients”, offering an alternative to traditional care pathways.

The service procured will incorporate a hybrid model, comprising both AI physio appointments and virtual appointments with HCPC registered physiotherapists under the employ of the contracted provider.

Interested suppliers should be CQC registered and ensure their capability to take full clinical and operational ownership for the entirety of the patient journey, it states, including referral intake, diagnostic triage, clinical assessment, personalised treatment planing, treatment delivery, and discharge.

The AI solution must be certified as a Class IIa medical device, and available 24/7 to support timely triage and diagnosis, the trust continues.

A contract notice is expected to be published around 4 May 2026, with an initial three-to-six month term to act as a pilot phase, followed by up to three optional one-year extensions.

Wider trend: AI supporting health and care

The board of North London NHS Foundation Trust has shared details of work to improve efficiency, reduce running costs, and eliminate non-value adding tasks with the use of digital tools and AI. Mobilising AI solutions to free-up time to care through a ten percent reduction in time spent on non-clinical activities year-on-year is noted, and increasing the use of digital skills by upskilling the workforce to reduce time spent on non-value adding tasks by five percent year-on-year.

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OpenAI has closed its latest funding round with $122 billion in committed capital, sharing plans to use the funding toward the next phase of at-scale AI, and in the development of an AI “superapp”. Referring to its success in generating $2 billion in revenue per month, the company states: “This is commercial scale, and it is mission scale. The fastest way to widen the benefits of AI is to put useful intelligence in people’s hands early and let that access compound globally. AI is driving productivity gains, accelerating scientific discovery, and expanding what people and organisations can build. This funding gives us the resources to continue to lead at the scale this moment demands.”