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“Making the UK an AI superpower” – but is it healthy?
February 5, 2025
The UK government’s plan to create artificial intelligence (AI) ‘growth zones’ signals a desire for even greater use of AI-powered tools. What could this mean for healthcare and patient privacy in an environment where AI plays an increasing role in how the NHS provides our care?
The UK’s Vision for AI Leadership
Earlier this month, Sir Keir Starmer released the government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan, a road map that aims to position the UK as a global leader in AI and shape the AI revolution.
Underpinning this ambitious plan is one very clear commitment: to harness the power of AI towards economic growth, public service transformation, and societal advancement.
The UK Government has adopted all 50 recommendations by Matt Clifford, the government’s AI adviser, in a bid to seize the full potential of AI. The aim is to unleash the value of public sector data, potentially including anonymised health data, alongside the creation of a new supercomputer to help form a robust AI infrastructure.
The prime minister said this month, “Artificial Intelligence will drive incredible change in our country. From teachers personalising lessons, to supporting small businesses with their record-keeping, to speeding up planning applications, it has the potential to transform the lives of working people.”
Perhaps one of the standouts from this plan is the development of AI growth zones, led by Culham in Oxfordshire, offering AI businesses streamlined planning processes that will make it a prime location for innovators. Meanwhile, in the private sector leading technology companies Vantage Data Centres, Nscale, and Kyndryl, have committed over £14 billion to the plan – a guarantee of more than 13,000 new jobs with promises of rapid expansion.
Timely Interventions
What does this mean for the NHS and health? AI’s potential to transform health is a recurring theme in recent national discourse, with NHS England already leveraging AI to predict frequent emergency service users, for example. This proactive approach aims to deliver timely interventions, improving patient outcomes while reducing the burden on overstretched resources.
NHS Shared Business Services (NHSSBS), a joint venture between NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA) and the French IT services company Sopra Steria has been set up. Its role is to provide back-office services to the health system, and it has been tasked with taking forward AI in the NHS in the form of the Healthcare Artificial Intelligence Solutions framework (a pre-approved supplier list), replacing frameworks for AI Software in Neuroscience for Stroke Decision Support and AI Imaging and Radiotherapy Equipment, which are due to expire in September 2025.
The framework aims to cover radiology and early detection, predictive analytics, operational efficiency and other areas where AI benefits can be realised. This supports the overall objective of positioning the NHS so it can use AI to improve not just patient care, but also critical clinical workflows. Importantly, these innovations align with the broader goals of the AI Opportunities Action Plan and the government hopes this further cements the UK’s position as a global hub for AI-driven healthcare solutions.
Privacy and “Defensiveness”
Meanwhile, the ghost at the feast – privacy. The prime minister has committed to maintaining control of anonymised health data but asserted the need to avoid a “defensive stance” – an assurance revealing subtlety in the ethical challenges driven by AI. It’s about transparency, and it’s also about public trust to cooperate with the government.
Achieving a balance that enables the NHS to benefit from AI while not affecting the rights of its users will make all the difference to this initiative’s ultimate success.
The Future of AI in the UK: Challenges and Opportunities
The AI Opportunities Action Plan represents a potentially seminal moment for the UK. Ambitious policy mixed with strategic investment puts the government on the path to an AI-powered future. The government hopes this will bring not only economic benefit but also improve public services and the quality of life for millions.
Tough to achieve? A fitter, fairer, and more healthy society – a well worth striving-for prize which far outweighs any number of setbacks? The UK is standing on the threshold of an AI revolution, and this plan presents an important series of choices that will affect generations to come.
For more insights on UK Health, visit the FINN Partners Health Sector. To learn more about AI in the NHS, read Ways NHS Uses AI to Tackle Healthcare Challenges.
POSTED BY: Jim Smith
