Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to bring forward reforms to improve NHS efficiency.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The merger of NHS England and the Department will lead to a smaller, leaner and more agile department. Alongside this, the restructuring of integrated care systems and commissioning support units is set to reduce running costs and NHS England is also tackling corporate cost growth in providers. These ongoing reforms will transform the way the centre and the National Health service works, prioritise resources for the front line and deliver significant efficiency savings. NHS efficiencies also include more effective use of medicines, commercial levers, automation, shared corporate services and reduced use of agency staff.
Looking forward, the funding provided at the recent Spending Review will enable the NHS to achieve 2% productivity growth each year, and we will shortly be publishing the 10-Year Health Plan that will set out the wider reform agenda.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use of artificial intelligence in the identification of patients with prostate cancer who would benefit most from treatment with abiraterone.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to transforming diagnostic services and will support the National Health Service to increase capacity to meet the demand for diagnostic services through investment in new capacity, including artificial intelligence (AI) where it is beneficial to do so.
AI can be used to accelerate the diagnosis and treatment of a number of diseases, including prostate cancer. This technology enables patients to be seen more quickly, which increases their likelihood of a successful outcome whilst simultaneously being more cost effective.
Through the AI in Health and Care Award, the Department has provided £113 million to test and evaluate AI technologies in crucial areas. Two of the tools funded by the AI award are Ibex Medical Analytics’ AI System and Paige Prostate Cancer Detection Tool. Both of these tools help with the early detection and grading of prostate cancer. Funding from the AI award helps to generate the evidence needed to deploy effective AI tools across the NHS and improve the lives and health outcomes of our population.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of investing in technology that uses artificial intelligence to analyse full body scans to aid in the early detection of cancer.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is testing artificial intelligence (AI) in areas that cause the most harm to health and to our economy. Through the £113 million AI award, a number of technologies that support with cancer detection and diagnosis have been tested.
The £21 million AI diagnostic fund was also focused on technologies that support with lung cancer diagnosis, such as chest x-ray and computed tomography scans.
On 4 February 2025, the Department announced that nearly 700,000 women across the country will take part in a world-leading trial to test how cutting-edge AI tools can be used to catch breast cancer cases earlier. The Early Detection using Information Technology in Health trial is backed by £11 million of Government support via the National Institute for Health and Care Research.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many care workers there are in the United Kingdom; and what assessment they have made of impact of the planned end of visas for overseas care workers on the number of care workers to meet demand.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Every day our 1.59 million-strong adult social care workforce provides vital care and support to people of all ages and with diverse needs. Care workers are essential to those who draw on care and support, helping them maintain their quality of life, independence and connection to the things that matter to them.
Adult social care is a devolved matter. In England in 2023/24, data from Skills for Care shows that there were 905,000 filled care worker roles.
The Home Office has estimated an annual reduction of approximately 7,000 main applicants as a result of ending overseas recruitment for social care visas. This is based on their internal management information for entry visas granted, covering the period of March 2024 to February 2025. This estimate reflects that there was a drop in visa grants of more than 90% compared to the 12 months ending in March 2024, when more than 83,000 entry visas were granted to care workers and senior care workers.
The analysis in the Technical Annex, published alongside the Immigration White Paper, will be refined and included within the relevant Impact Assessments accompanying the rule changes, as appropriate.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report published on 8 May by the Health Foundation, Digitising the NHS and adult social care.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Digital transformation offers substantial opportunities for the National Health Service to improve care outcomes and to lower cost, while improving the experience of patients. The impact of digital tools and programmes are measured individually, and organisations are required to identify, manage, actively track, and report impacts, outcomes, and benefits against agreed plans.
Our investment in digitising the frontline will ensure value for money and that health and care staff have access to health-related information when and where it is needed, supporting them to deliver care efficiently, effectively, and safely, reducing variation and improving outcomes.
Currently, 187 out of 206, or 91% of, secondary care trusts have an Electronic Patient Record (EPR) in place, with work underway to provide tailored support to the remaining 19 trusts that do not yet have an EPR. Our ambition is for all trusts to meet our stated core digitisation standards, including having EPRs in place, by March 2026.
In adult social care, 75% of registered care providers now have digitised care records, up from 41% in December 2021, benefiting 85% of people who draw on care.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of artificial intelligence technology being trained on real patient data, and whether they intend to introduce regulation around the use of health records in training artificial intelligence
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are strict safeguards in place throughout the National Health Service to protect data. All providers of services which handle patient data must protect that data in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), and the Data Protection Act 2018, and every health organisation is required to appoint a Caldicott Guardian to advise on the protection of people’s health and care data, and ensure it is used properly. This includes where artificial intelligence (AI) is used in relation to patient records.
The NHS AI Lab and Sciencewise, part of UK Research and Innovation, held a public dialogue on how the public feels decisions should be made about access to their personal health data for AI purposes. The AI Lab conducted a discovery exercise to design approaches based on insights from the public, which is now informing broader data stewardship initiatives, for example, as part of the Secure Data Environments.
To mitigate the likelihood and severity of any potential harm to individuals arising from the use of data in AI, the Information Commissioners Office has developed detailed AI guidance which provides an overarching view of data protection, including Data Protection Impact Assessments and UK GDPR. They have also produced an AI toolkit to support organisations auditing compliance of their AI-based technologies. NHS bodies are expected to make use of this guidance and toolkit.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use of artificial intelligence technologies in supporting (1) the diagnosis of stroke in patients, and (2) the prescription of drugs to stroke patients.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Artificial intelligence (AI) is being used to analyse and interpret acute stroke brain scans to support doctors when diagnosing and making treatment decisions in 100% of stroke units in England. Early data has shown a reduction in the average amount of time taken to assess and treat patients, from 140 to 79 minutes, tripling the chance of independent living following a stroke, when these tools are employed.
Clinical Decision Support (CDS) systems are tools which use AI to assess patient data and suggest medication that could be prescribed, though the final decision is always made by a clinician. CDS systems are in use across the United Kingdom and can be used to support clinicians prescribing medication to stroke patients.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the growing number of young people using generative artificial intelligence as an alternative to therapy; and whether the advice provided by such technologies is regulated.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Currently, no assessment has been made on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor the unsupervised use of these therapy tools. However, we recognise the potential of AI to improve health and care services, including supporting people’s mental health. The United Kingdom has a world-leading regulatory system which ensures that medical technologies on the market are safe for use, including AI technologies. Should the National Health Service begin to assess AI-integrated therapy tools, they will be held to the same regulatory standards as other tools used by the NHS.
Ensuring technologies are safe is a top priority. To ensure the regulatory pathway is clear for both developers and adopters, the Department has supported the launch of numerous regulatory projects such as the AI and Digital Regulation Service (AIDRS) and the AI Airlock.
The AIDRS collaborates between the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulation Agency, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the Health Research Authority, and the Care Quality Commission. The service, by providing a collaborative ‘one stop shop’ of information, advice, and guidance, allows adopters and developers of AI to easily understand what regulatory and evaluation pathways need to be followed before an AI tool can be safety deployed across health and care.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use of AI-powered remote-monitoring systems in caring for dementia patients, and how this technology could reduce the cost of care.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Artificial intelligence powered remote monitoring technologies that can support people who draw on care, including those with dementia, are being piloted as part of the Adult Social Care Technology Fund. We will be publishing evidence from the pilots following their completion across 2025/26.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce regulation to ensure the safe use of artificial intelligence technologies in healthcare.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ensuring technologies are safe is a top priority. To ensure the regulatory pathway is clear for both developers and adopters, the Department has supported the launch of numerous regulatory projects such as the AI and Digital Regulation Service (AIDRS) and the AI Airlock.
The AIDRS collaborates between the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the Health Research Authority, and the Care Quality Commission. The service, by providing a collaborative ‘one stop shop’ of information, advice, and guidance, allows adopters and developers of artificial intelligence (AI) to easily understand what regulatory and evaluation pathways need to be followed before an AI tool can be safety deployed across health and care.
The AI Airlock is an MHRA-led initiative, supported by the NHS AI Lab, designed to create a controlled testing environment where developers can rigorously validate AI tools in real-world clinical settings before full-scale deployment, ensuring they meet National Health Service standards for safety, efficacy, and integration into existing healthcare workflows. The AI Airlock fosters collaboration between developers, regulators, and healthcare providers, and reduces the risks associated with early-stage implementation while providing valuable feedback for developers to refine their products.