Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust is inviting local service users to have their say on the use of AI in community services.
Anyone who uses LCH community NHS services in Leeds is welcome to take part, the trust says, with recruitment open until January 2027. Participants will complete a telephone or face-to-face questionnaire about AI in healthcare, which will last up to 30 minutes, it continues, as an opportunity to share their views and experiences.
Information shared will be kept private, the trust reassures, and names will be removed prior to the use of any answers.
Leeds Community recently shared progress alongside Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust on an ambient voice tech pilot and work focusing on digital inclusion. A pilot of Heidi AI at the Leeds Gender Identity Service aimed to address the services’ admin burden. Prior to implementation, 72.7 percent of staff were reporting a negative impact from the amount of admin work they were required to complete, and over half said they worked beyond their contracted hours to complete it.
During the pilot, findings published by the trusts demonstrated that the AI solution effectively reduced time spent on clinical documentation, notably allowing clinicians to focus on patient conversations rather than note taking. “Clinicians reported richer, more person-centred interactions, with less pressure to capture information during appointments and more opportunity to concentrate on the individual in front of them,” the trusts state. 91 percent of service users said clinicians were more focused, and 73 percent observed feeling “the same or more comfortable” during their appointments.
Outcomes were also communicated from the Leeds Community Healthcare digital inclusion programme, including findings from routine screening at the trust which showed 32 percent of patients are unable to complete “basic digital tasks”, and 57 percent of those aged 65 and over are unable to use digital services independently.
Wider trend: Health AI
South East Coast Ambulance (SECAmb) Service NHS Foundation Trust has presented findings from its “PARA-AI” project exploring attitudes toward AI in pre-hospital care, finding strong support for AI use in clinical care with the appropriate safeguards. 83 percent of respondents said they would be willing to use AI technologies in clinical practice, so long as the appropriate safeguards were in place, with 80 percent highlighting the importance of clear governance, audit processes, and accountability in increasing trust in AI. 92 percent believed that paramedics should be involved in the design and testing of AI tools.
With the publication of the latest budget for 2026, the government has reaffirmed its commitment on AI for productivity, increasing opportunities for sovereign AI, AI for biosecurity, and exploring quantum technologies. For health specifically, the government will launch the Chancellor’s AI Challenge Prize as an annual competition, with the first round to offer a top award of up to £2.5 million for promising solutions to priority healthcare challenges. An independent review has also been commissioned into NHS productivity and the opportunities offered by AI and technology, reporting in early 2027.
The North West Radiotherapy Network, made up of The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust, and Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; has published a research strategy setting out priority actions for data, AI, automation, and digital systemsover the next five years. The ambition, the network provides, is to create a research ecosystem capable of delivering more equitable radiotherapy through collaboration and innovation, with common principles for the radiotherapy research community, and a “local where possible, centralised when required” approach.
