AI already transforming hospital care
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is alive and well and thriving in our hospitals, generating innovative solutions to enable us to better care for our patients.
AI is not only the future of healthcare but is here among us already - changing lives, preventing illness and pushing the boundaries of scientific discovery.
The trust Board heard recently that across our hospitals we are aware of about 40 different AI applications being used, with some techniques being developed in-house and others being tested on behalf of external technology suppliers.
At one level we are using AI tools to reduce administrative burdens and improve operational efficiency. Clinic letters, complaints handling and recruitment are each being streamlined in this way, freeing up staff to focus on making improvements in patient and staff experience.
At another we are using AI to analyse data and images and enhance clinical decision-making. A trial of Bingli software in emergency care is identifying high-risk patients.Applying the Qure.ai tool to chest X-rays is helping radiologists prioritise the most urgent cases. A pilot of BloodImage is scanning blood film images to flag the risk of leukaemia.
Podiatrists at The Royal London hospital are testing an AI tool that can identify diabetic foot disease. The respiratory team is scanning NHS data to identify patients at risk of lung cancer and prioritise them for screening.
These initiatives by early adopters and local champions are made possible by the robust IT infrastructure that Barts Health has put in place over recent years.
Like other NHS trusts we are now assessing what governance structures and support we need in order to take appropriate advantage of the opportunities offered by AI.
This includes how we most effectively understand what AI we need and how we should prioritise the implementation of AI solutions.
While AI has tremendous potential to transform our services for the benefit of patients, particularly in diagnostics, the board was reassured it would never replace the role of human intervention in clinical decision-making.
Dr Charles Gutteridge, our chief clinical information officer, said: “AI identifies patterns in data that humans cannot see, so can spot signs of rare diseases - or complications in common diseases - earlier than a doctor could. It also never misses anything and so reduces the risk of errors by doctors doing routine tasks. And it does it faster, so frees up valuable time for clinicians top spend with their patients.
“When you get sick nobody wants to talk to a bot, they want human interaction. That can be assisted by machines, but it is essential there is a human being in front of you.”
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