More than three quarters of NHS staff (76%) support the use of AI to help with patient care, with 81% also in favour of its use for administrative tasks, according to a survey by the Health Foundation.
The healthcare research charity added that the public is also broadly receptive to the use of the technology, with 54% supporting its use in patient care and 61% for administrative purposes.
Its survey involved 1,292 NHS staff members and 7,200 nationally representative members of the UK public aged 16 years and older – said to be one of the largest of its kind in the world.
Other findings included that significant minorities of the public and NHS staff – 18% and 11% respectively – think that AI reduces the quality of care, and that young people (aged 16-24) are less likely to believe it will improve the quality of care. Also, women are less likely than men to believe it will improve care.
Concern over accuracy
Two major concerns were identified by the survey. One is around the potential impact of AI on the accuracy of decision making, with 30% of the public thinking that healthcare staff will not question its outputs and may miss errors.
The other is that 53% think AI will make them feel more distant from healthcare staff, while 65% of staff think it will make them more distant from patients.
A majority of 57% of NHS staff were looking forward to using AI as part of their role.
Publication of the survey follows the Health Foundation’s call for a dedicated strategy for AI in healthcare. This would involve focusing developments and deployments in the right areas, underpinning the use of AI with high quality testing and evaluation, and the introduction of a clear and consistent regulatory regime.
Direction and engagement
Tim Horton, assistant director (insight and analysis) at the Health Foundation, said: “Capitalising on the potential of AI will require a dedicated strategy to create agreement on priorities and provide greater direction for the NHS and industry. And engaging people in decisions about how AI should be used must be at the heart of this.
“If AI is to be accepted, and the benefits fully realised, it will have to command the confidence of patients, the public and NHS staff. The Health Foundation’s research suggests the public and NHS staff, on balance, support the use of AI for clinical and administrative purposes. But some remain unconvinced, and so it’s crucial to engage people in a conversation about the future of health care – in order to understand and address their concerns.
“It’s clear the public want a human to remain ‘in the loop’ for many uses of AI in healthcare, and they want AI technologies to be designed and used in ways that protect the human dimension of care.
“Our research also suggests the impact of AI will be felt differently across roles in healthcare, and so in helping staff adjust to the rise of AI, policy makers and NHS leaders will need to tailor the support they provide.”
