A new report, Seizing a Rare Opportunity, presents insights from a roundtable with patient representatives, NHS and industry experts, as well as a scan of research reports and individual conversations with NHS staff and leaders on the future potential for AVT.
The King's Fund fellow, Dr Pritesh Mistry, said: ‘We know there is exceptional excitement about AVT among NHS leaders and the workforce. As a result, the market is racing ahead. It's important to recognise the technology will not stand still, and neither should the system's ambition for it.
‘The UK has unique assets with a universal health system, a large workforce and a growing domestic AI capability. AVT provides an opportunity for the NHS to shape how AI is used, stimulate a thriving marketplace of AVT suppliers and build the UK's competitive capability to develop technologies that improve healthcare.
‘The potential benefit of this technology on patient care and the workforce is absolutely critical. Considering the rocky foundation of previously unsuccessful NHS technology projects, we must get this right.'
The analysis highlights structural blockers to the effective roll out of AVT, including electronic patient records that do not easily integrate with AVT, which means clinicians are manually copy-pasting information between systems, and a lack of transparent AVT performance metrics – so it is unclear what benefits are being delivered in practice.
It calls for a national strategy that ensures the benefits of AVT are not only felt in isolated patches of the country and recommends a focus on value-based procurement, risk–reward partnerships with suppliers and digital funding pots that funds transformative changes to how the NHS delivers care – not only the software it uses.
The analysis says potential AVT errors, including hallucinating medication and incorrectly identifying which side of the patient's body needs treatment, highlights why a collaborative approach between NHS, regulators and suppliers, including how AVT safety reporting interacts with the MHRA yellow card system, is needed urgently.
