The NHS, health charities and the wider tech sector should use Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data to transform diagnosis of cancer and other diseases, Prime Minister Theresa May is to say.

In a speech in Macclesfield today, Mrs May is to outline plans that will prevent 22,000 cancer deaths every year by 2033 through the deployment of advanced technologies extracting knowledge from NHS data, cross-referencing patients’ habits and genetics.

The PM is expected to say:

“Late diagnosis of otherwise treatable illnesses is one of the biggest causes of avoidable deaths.

“And the development of smart technologies to analyse great quantities of data quickly and with a higher degree of accuracy than is possible by human beings opens up a whole new field of medical research and gives us a new weapon in our armoury in the fight against disease.”

This will create a new industry offering high-skilled science jobs, drawing on ‘existing centres of excellence’ such as Oxford or Leeds, Mrs May will pledge.
 

As the Prime Minister gets ready to talk about the potential of AI in the NHS, it's more important than ever to have better conversations with the public, to explain how patient data is kept safe and to help build confidence #datasaveslives https://t.co/bGNLVR7XRZ pic.twitter.com/AdlK5J1Xy4

— Understanding Patient Data (@Patient_Data) May 21, 2018

As the Prime Minister gets ready to talk about the potential of AI in the NHS, it's more important than ever to have better conversations with the public, to explain how patient data is kept safe and to help build confidence

Earlier this year, the House of Lords Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence (AI) said NHS data could bring ‘immense value’ to AI research if the NHS digitised practices and records consistently by 2022, addressing issues with data ‘storage, availability and flow’.

Sir Harpal Kumar, Cancer Research CEO, said:

“Earlier detection and diagnosis could fundamentally transform outcomes for people with cancer, as well as saving the NHS money.

“The Government’s mission to revolutionise healthcare using the power of artificial intelligence is pioneering.

“Advances in detection technologies depend on the intelligent use of data and have the potential to save hundreds of thousands of lives every year.

“We need to ensure we have the right infrastructure, embedded in our health system, to make this possible.”