AI to help slash NHS hospital discharge delays, officials say
Technology is being piloted to help free up NHS hospital beds which are occupied by people fit to be sent home, officials have announced.
The platform uses artificial intelligence (AI) to help complete the documents needed to discharge patients, potentially saving hours of delays.
The move will allow doctors to spend less time on paperwork and more time focused on care, cutting waiting times in the process, according to Health Secretary Wes Streeting.
The technology, which is being piloted at Chelsea and Westminster NHS Trust, extracts information from medical records, including diagnoses and test results.
This helps medics to draft discharge summaries, which have to be completed before a person is sent home from hospital.
The document is then reviewed by healthcare professionals responsible for the patient and used to send them home or refer them to other services.
The tool will be hosted on the NHS Federated Data Platform (FDP), a shared software system aiming to make it easier for health and care organisations to work together and provide better services to patients
The current manual system can sometimes leave patients waiting for hours to be discharged, as doctors may be too busy to fill in forms, according to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
Mr Streeting said: “This potentially transformational discharge tool is a prime example of how we’re shifting from analogue to digital as part of our 10-year health plan.
“We’re using cutting-edge technology to build an NHS fit for the future and tackle the hospital backlogs that have left too many people waiting too long.
“Doctors will spend less time on paperwork and more time with patients, getting people home to their families faster and freeing up beds for those who need them most.”
The AI tool for discharge summaries is one of a number of projects to be backed by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
In January, he said AI will be used to “turn around” the economy and public services.
Elsewhere, the Government has announced that technology shown to halve the time probation officers spend organising notes will be given to all 12,000 probation officers later this year.
The system helps to transcribe and take notes from meetings that officers have with offenders after they leave prison.
Speaking on a visit to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said: “This is exactly the kind of change we need, AI being used to give doctors, probation officers and other key workers more time to focus on delivering better outcomes and speeding up vital services.
“This Government inherited a public sector decimated by years of underinvestment and is crying out for reform.
“These AI exemplars show the best ways in which we’re using tech to build a smarter, more efficient state.
“When we get this right across government, we’re talking about unlocking £45 billion in productivity gains, delivering our plan for change and investing in growth, not bureaucracy.”
By Storm Newton, PA Health Reporter