Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the press notice entitled Faster treatments and support for health workers as AI tackles A&E bottlenecks, published on 28 December 2025, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the use of AI to predict levels of demand in A&Es on waiting times.

The Department has not to date undertaken any formal assessment or evaluation of the potential impact of the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to predict levels of demand in accident and emergency departments on waiting times, or staff workload, wellbeing, or retention.

Decisions regarding the adoption and deployment of AI tools, including those used for demand prediction in accident and emergency settings as discussed in the article ‘Faster treatments and support for health workers as AI tackles accident and emergency bottlenecks’, are made at a local level by individual National Health Service trusts. At present, NHS trusts have the autonomy to determine the use of such technologies, taking into account the needs and priorities of their respective organisation, and should evaluate and review the impact of AI deployment within their care settings.