The government has published a code of conduct on artificial intelligence and data-driven technologies in healthcare, with a view to creating a “safe and trusted environment in which innovation can flourish”.
Speaking at this week’s Health and Care Innovation Expo, health minister Lord O’Shaughnessy said AI and machine learning was a field moving “at lightning speed” and with “tremendous potential across the healthcare sector”.
He said the principles in the code would constitute “rules of engagement” between industry and the health and care system as each seeks to realise this potential.
“These principles provide a basis to deepen the trust between patients, clinicians, researchers and innovators,” he told delegates.
The code – which for now is in initial consultation stage – details 10 principles to which those working on healthcare data-driven technologies should adhere.
The overall aim is said to be to ensure a fair deal for the NHS in any future partnerships, to set clear guidelines on how patient data is protected, and to accelerate the introduction of proven technologies.
Among the principles is a requirement to present “a clear business case highlighting outputs, outcomes, benefits and performance indicators, and how exactly the product will result in better provision and/or outcomes for people and the health and care system”.
Interestingly, the document reveals the government is actively working to create “a trusted approvals scheme Kitemark for digital health and care products, so that commissioners and those making procurement decisions can do so in an informed way”.
A principle of being “fair, transparent and accountable about what data you are using” is also central to the code.
Government commitments
The document in turn lists five commitments from the government. There are pledges to simplify the regulatory and funding landscape – “to ensure it neither stifles innovation nor risks patient safety” – and to encourage the system to adopt innovation, in part through a review of contracting and procurement arrangements”.
A key aim of the code, on which views are currently being invited, is to allow the government to guide the development of new technology so products are suitable for the NHS.
Digital Health News reported earlier in the year that a code of conduct on AI was expected. While there are many proponents of the use of AI and big data analysis in the NHS – including Lord O’Shaughnessy himself – it has proved a controversial field.
DeepMind’s partnership with Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust may have resulted in an acute injury alert app some brand “phenomenal”, but it also led to a ruling from the Information Commissioner’s Office that data protection law had been breached.
And a recent independent review of the company concluded it should be “more transparent about its business model”.
The national care.data project, meanwhile, was meant to create a pool of anonymised data which researchers could use to find better treatments.
But it was scrapped amid widespread concerns about patient consent and how the data would be used.
13 September 2018 @ 16:40
I don’t see any mention of patient consent in the consultation. Doctors and nurses might as well get their professional bodies to remove any reference to consent, privacy and confidentiality from their codes of conduct.
14 September 2018 @ 19:29
I completely agree with your comment. Where use of patient data is concerned (and indeed more generally) this Code of Conduct is just a collection of vague platitudes that could mean anything and therefore mean nothing. Sample: “When collected and used properly, data relevant to people’s health and care has the potential to be transformative.” The NHS has been telling us for the last five years that they “collect and use properly” out personal confidential data. On any reasonable interpretation of their claims they are simply lying. They routinely contravene the GDPR, conceal from or lie to data subjects about what they are doing with our data; all objections are ignored, illegally overruled or circumvented with lies about “sufficiently anonymised”data (which is neither anonymous nor unidentifiable); their lies are supported by the ICO and the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman defers to the ICO. There is no court of appeal. If they want a particular kind of data they legislate to the effect that taking it without consent does not involve a breach of confidentiality. This is like legislating to the effect that black is white. The DHSC and NHS England act as though they are above the law and they blackmail healthcare providers into compliance with their diktats. Is this “Code of Conduct” going to change any of that? No, it is not going to change anything, and the DHSC has no intention of changing anything. They are destroying the healthcare system and they have no intention of doing anything else. They regularly make a show of consulting people but only listen to what they want to hear. If the country had a real leader this could not happen but, sadly, we don’t, so we are getting digital toys, patient processing and abuse instead of a confidential medical service.
7 September 2018 @ 15:50
Where is the Code of Conduct referred to in this article? the only Code of Conduct I can find says nothing about protection of patient data, though it does talk about the private sector allowing the Government to guide technological development. Is there another document somewhere? I am not going to start commenting on the document section by section without seeing the whole thing before I begin.
7 September 2018 @ 16:20
Hi Bertl. The document’s here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-guidance-to-help-nhs-patients-benefit-from-digital-technology. It’s hyperlinked to in the article – just click on “code” in the fifth paragraph. Thanks, Claire.
7 September 2018 @ 17:07
Thank you, Clare. I did originally find the wrong document (similar but all about cooperation between the NHS and tech companies on saving costs). I have now looked at the right document and I am sorry, but in no way surprised to find that it contains nothing but the same old lies that the DH/DHSC have been telling us for the last five years. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. The same old lies about patients having control over how their data is used (nothing could be further from the truth); the same old lies about “de-identified” or “anonymised data” (that is neither unidentifiable nor anonymous); the same old lies about the DH/DHSC engaging in open and honest conversation with NHS patients and members of the public (nothing could be further from the truth -you don’t open an honest conversation by lying); the same old lies about the DH/DHSC actually listening to what stakeholders say (they only listen to what they want to hear). So here we go again, the same old pointless process of telling them what we think. It does not feel as though there is any point, but I think it is important that we do keep telling them them that they are lying, however little this may seem to achieve. I hope people will do so. Anyway, thanks for keeping us informed, and for pointing me in the right direction.