Each year, the pressures facing the NHS are worse than the last. We all know the impact of shortfalls in our professions: delays for patients, moral injury for doctors, higher costs as departments try desperately to manage excess demand.
With demand only set to increase, we need a solution. Our first priority will always be campaigning to build the sustainable workforce we need – improving training, increasing recruitment and of course driving a serious focus on retention.
There is no future where radiologists don’t play a central role in patient care. Radiologists are and will always be the glue that binds the patient’s healthcare journey together.
But if we are to cope with the ever-increasing volumes of imaging, we must consider how technology could play a greater role, freeing us up to concentrate on the areas where we add most value. This is where AI comes in – and why I’m excited to be opening our inaugural Global AI Conference today.
We stand at a critical juncture. AI is already widely used in many aspects of our lives, in healthcare and beyond – our 2023 census found AI was already being used in over half of radiology departments and I have no doubt the proportion has increased since. At our conference, we’ll be showcasing some of the most exciting ways in which it could play a greater role in healthcare.
But while AI holds great potential, it also holds great risks. Getting this wrong could harm patients, waste doctors’ time, and drain public funds.
We have a long way to go – because currently the reality is that too often, digital technology wastes our time. We must get the basics right first: updating infrastructure, improving data quality and improving interoperability.
The final ingredient in the AI revolution must be public trust. We need a national conversation to ensure AI in healthcare is acceptable to and trusted by patients.
We recently commissioned public polling into people’s views on AI, and the results were fascinating. We’ll publish a full report soon, but in summary: we found that while the public is largely unaware of how AI is being used in the NHS, they recognise the value it could bring – particularly in radiology, and how it could streamline their care.
It is clear from our research that the public trust doctors and value their expert oversight when it comes to AI – they want their doctors to ensure that AI will not make the wrong diagnoses or reduce human interaction in healthcare, and they want to be assured that their data will be safe and secure.
We stand ready to do just that, and this conference is a fantastic opportunity to start the conversation.
