AI could be the secret to saving our health system

Following the report into the NHS by Lord Darzi, the challenge now is making the right decisions in the knowledge that no additional government money is coming.

In order for reform to succeed, the UK health and social care sector must embrace technology-enabled care. It is our only option if the challenges facing the NHS are to be fixed for the long term.

Embracing proven technologies that can support early discharges from hospital, or even prevent the need for people to seek emergency care in the first place, would be a starting point.

The UK has an increasingly ageing population. People are living longer with disabilities or chronic illnesses. These, as Darzi’s report illustrates, are pushing health and social care providers to the brink.

They simply do not have the resources to meet demand. Using the latest health tech for assisted living should be part of the response to flattening the curve of cost and demand, and making finite resources stretch further.

It can be done. The new generation of AI and machine learning monitoring tech is delivering solutions already.

These preventative approaches are key not only for the future of our health service, but for improving the quality of life for those most in need.

Peter Kerly

Maidstone

For decades we have seen the NHS struggle while doctors try their best.

Frankly, the root cause is an administrative problem – spending is poorly distributed and productivity is reduced as a result.

Moreover, the NHS is being abused, by those who go abroad and pay privately for cheap body enhancement operations or dental work, and then expect the NHS to help them free of charge when things go badly wrong.

In addition, while we are unable to cope with our own population’s problems we are also expected to deal with tens of thousands of migrants each year.

These are not problems of a Conservative government’s making. They have been thrust upon us by happenstance, just as the Covid pandemic was.

Blame helps nobody.

The nettle has to be grasped and well-calculated reform needs to be imposed.

Piers Chalinor

London

We welcome Lord Darzi’s review into NHS performance, which reaffirms the urgent situation for so many people affected by less survivable cancers across the country.

Chief among the challenges facing our health service is the alarming reality that the deadliest cancers, specifically those of the brain, liver, lung, oesophagus, pancreas and stomach, have seen no meaningful improvements in survival rates for decades and are lagging far behind comparable countries in terms of survivability.

This despite the fact that less survivable cancers account for nearly half of all cancer deaths in the UK.

Lord Darzi’s report notes that the UK has appreciably higher cancer mortality rates than other countries and that we have made no progress in early diagnosis in recent years.

As the government looks ahead to the NHS’s 10-year plan, it is imperative that it takes decisive action to turn the tide on this appalling situation.

To this end, the new government must adopt specific targets and commitments aimed at improving their survival rates, including a significant investment in research, the fostering of innovative diagnostic and treatment tools, and a clear strategy for earlier and faster diagnosis.

Anna Jewell

Chair of the Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce

Looking over the roster of candidates this year, it seems the political world is very strange indeed, and only getting stranger.  It’s a sad commentary on American politics when the number one rule for voting this year – regardless of the office – is “don’t vote for the crazy one”.

Mike Barrett

Ashburn, Virginia

I must confess to being rather confused over the NHS crisis. Ignoring the loss of qualified medical staff who returned to Europe, which has obviously caused problems, surely the £350m per week the NHS gained when we left the EU should, after nearly five years, be starting to kick in now and make a difference?

Robert Boston

Kent

One of the main reasons for parents and teachers blaming one another for kids’ behaviour is the approach of our education system, which keeps chasing ever higher targets of attaintment.

Teachers attempt to deliver for the school, but their efforts place pressure on children who are expected to keep pace with it all.

The number of parents seeking a neurodiversity diagnosis for their children is too high for our NHS to cope with. But without a formal diagnosis, it’s all too easy for the parents to be judged by schools as the direct cause of any bad behaviour from their kids.

Even with the certainty that a neurodiversity diagnosis can provide, though, the education system isn’t able to supply the necessary support required for the almost 1.5 million children in England that have special education needs and disabilities (Send).

Parents are then left fighting with schools and local authorities to try and secure the support their child needs in order not to fall too far behind. This all results in pressure on parents who direct their frustration towards the most visible aspect of the education system, which is the teachers.

Mark Pinchbeck

Sheffield