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The NHS is looking towards introducing AI and hopes to become the face front for bringing more advanced technology into healthcare across the world by setting an example, encouraging other countries to begin looking into ways of working work alongside AI in order to globally achieve better healthcare.

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So far, the government has mentioned they have plans to designate a £250 million budget that’ll go towards a National Artificial Intelligence Lab in order to “build cutting edge treatment for cancer, dementia, and heart disease”.

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The NHS already received one budget bonus earlier this year after it was announced that new upgrades and renovations would be made towards 20 different NHS trusts. This newly announced lab will be located inside NHSx which is a unit created in order to bring together experts that will be overseeing the digital combination between our healthcare system and AI. It’s a big step into automation and will be allowing staff to have more time on the front line instead of doing admin tasks, creating more demand for nurses and doctors.

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The Health Department commented by saying the AI Lab can improve cancer screening through speeding up the results of tests, which includes mammograms, eye scans, brain scans, and heart monitoring. They’ve also gone on to say that it doesn't stop with just being able to help and find new innovative ways in order to cure and prevent disease, but instead it’ll also be using predictive models to learn the demand in future needs like drugs, beds, devices, or even surgeries.

All these announcements are an exciting time for technology because it means more care patient care, less crowded wards, and a bigger development in medicines. We’ll be able to see the changes as the years progress.