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Experts predict that AI supported surgery will become ‘common practice’ in the next five years as a London start-up deploys an artificial intelligence platform set to act as a ‘navigational system’ for healthcare professionals.

Health Data Research UK (HDR UK) has appointed two new leaders to shape its scientific and technology strategies as the institute forges ahead with initiatives aiming to address some of the most pressing health research challenges through cutting-edge data science.

A ground-breaking facility that will harness Artificial Intelligence to develop new drugs for clinical testing within weeks is to be opened through investment from the new £103m Rosalind Franklin Institute (RFI). Funded by the government through UK Research and Innovation, the RFI will use advanced technologies such as AI and robotics to transform the drug discovery process and create new treatments for patients. The RFI will invest £6m to set up the new cutting-edge facility using AI and lead two other initiatives that will see the institute work on creating: The ‘world’s most advanced real-time video camera’ to develop cures for some of the most lethal forms of cancer  A project that will enable fully-automated hands-free molecular discovery to produce new drugs up to ten times faster. “The new Rosalind Franklin Institute will lead a revolution in drug development and diagnosis to improve the lives of millions of patients,” said Business Secretary Greg Clark earlier this month. Rosalind Franklin Institute - Closing the loop on drug discovery from Rosalind Franklin Institute on Vimeo. The RFI will operate on a ‘hub and spoke’ model, with the central facility located at the Harwell Campus in Oxfordshire and several spokes distributed throughout its partner network of universities, which includes: University of Birmingham University of Cambridge University of Edinburgh Imperial College London University of Leeds King's College London University of Manchester University of Oxford University of Southampton University College London.  It is expected to drive growth in the UK life sciences sector and bridge the gap between academia, research and pharma or SMEs, with the Harwell hub set to host 150 researchers. “The RFI will pioneer disruptive technologies and new ways of working to revolutionise our understanding of biology, leading to new diagnostics, new drugs, and new treatments for millions of patients worldwide.  “It will bring university researchers together with industry experts in one facility and embrace high-risk, adventurous research, that will transform the way we develop new medicines,” said Professor Ian Walmsey, University of Oxford Pro-Vice-Chancellor Research & Innovation and Chair of the RFI’s Interim Board. This week, Prime Minister Theresa May outlined plans for the UK to lead the AI revolution in healthcare, with technology set to be one of the key areas for the new 10-year NHS plan. “We have the opportunity to lead the world in the use of data and technology to prevent illness, not just treat it, to diagnose conditions before symptoms occur and to deliver personalised treatment informed not just by general understanding of disease, but by your own data, including your genetic makeup,” the PM said during a speech at the Royal Free in London on Monday (18 June).

The UK has an opportunity to 'lead the world in the use of data and technology to prevent illness', Prime Minister Theresa May said in a speech today marking a £20bn funding boost for the NHS.

[London, UK] Assessment of digital health tools should be updated to reflect the current pace of development in the tech space, Dr Murray Ellender, Co-Founder and Chief Executive of eConsult, has said. eConsult is a digital platform developed for the primary care sector that allows patients to access an online portal providing round-the-clock support, used in approximately 400 GP practices across the country. Last year, researchers from the University of Bristol released a study that looked at the use of the system across 36 practices in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire. It found that most patients valued the option of being able to use the system in addition to existing processes, but that most of them were accessing it for administrative purposes. The study then made a series of recommendations to ensure platforms were ‘carefully implemented and effectively marketed’. But in an interview with BJ-HC, Dr Ellender revealed that the study was made available to the team a year before it was published, which meant that by the time it was released to the wider public, the recommendations suggested had already been implemented. This led to a twofold increase - from 2016 to 2017 - in the number of e-consultations at practices that had deployed the system in England and a fourfold increase at a London Clinical Commissioning Group last year. Dr Ellender argued that, while the system should not rely only on suppliers for evidence, there was a need to improve evaluation methods to encourage adoption of solutions aiming to provide efficiencies for the system and streamline workflows. In an article written earlier this year, Dr Ellender explained: “Academic studies are important but whether they are the most effective way to evaluate rapidly evolving technologies is questionable. “A time lapse of 18 months between study completion and study publication does not reflect the status quo where all online consultation models have evolved significantly since their early pilot days. “Until new academic data is available, we continue to collect and analyse data on a weekly basis, listen to clinical and patient feedback and constantly refine the eConsult platform for ease of use, efficacy and, most important of all, clinical safety.” This could also be supported, he added, through an emphasis on the importance of embracing the use of digital tools in healthcare.  “It is clear that we are indeed past the point of debating whether new technologies have a place in general practice, after all we do almost everything else in a digital manner and it should be a just a matter of time before general practice catches up." But more needs to be done to train GPs to use these tools, Dr Ellender added, calling for further investment from the centre.

Findings from former Labour health minister Lord Darzi's health and social care review indicate the NHS could save a tenth of its annual running costs through automation.

Four years after choosing Epic as its preferred Electronic Patient Record supplier, NHS Improvement approves a business case for Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust to start the deployment of the system.

With one in four people lacking the skills to use digital tools effectively, NHS Digital is trying to raise awareness around the importance of addressing exclusion levels.

HIMSS TV interviews two NHS leading figures, and members of the HIMSS UK advisory board, in an attempt to discover what benefits the global digital exemplars (GDEs) can bring to the NHS. Dunscombe, also Chair of the HIMSS UK Advisory Board, hopes that GDEs will "bring a blueprint and apply an agnostic level of pathway or business process to what we do". Learn more about the what the standouts can provide the NHS, in addition to their releationships with 'fast followers' in this interview from UK e-Health Week.

Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to say that AI and data could save thousands of lives if used to improve diagnosis of cancer and other diseases, but experts warn that the ‘right infrastructure’ needs to be in place to underpin these developments.