A number of key figures, including representatives from NHSX, have met for a roundtable discussion on how to improve artificial intelligence (AI) regulation in healthcare.

The group included, Matthew Gould, CEO of NHSX (who also chaired the discussion), Simon Madden, director of policy and strategy at NHSX and Indra Joshi, who is the director of AI at NHSX.

They were joined by the likes of Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the Information Commissioner and the National Data Guardian (full list of members can be found below).

Gould set up the roundtable last year to ensure there is a “joined-up approach” taken when it comes to AI in healthcare.

“Doing AI right means putting a set of rules around it that will make sure it is done safely, in a way that respects patients’ privacy and retains the confidence of citizens and staff,” he said in a blog post.

The group met for the second time on 28 January to provide an update on what work has been achieved so far.

Updates include the MHRA working to develop foundational regulations for AI, with support from NHSX and other arms length bodies, new office for digital health being launched by NICE in March 2021. NICE and the MHRA have also been working together to set up a comprehensive data and analytics methods and standards programme which will ultimately give professionals and patients confidence that new AI technologies are clinically and cost effective.

“The NHS AI Lab will continue to support and fund this work, with regulation as one of its core programmes,” Gould added.

“We need to get this right, so we build the trust of both the public and professions in the use of AI in health and care. With that trust and the right regulations and safeguards, we can deploy AI across the NHS with confidence, and create a positive context for innovation.”

Attendees at the meeting on the 28 January:

  • Matthew Gould – CEO, NHSX (Chair)
  • Simon Madden – Director of Policy and Strategy, NHSX
  • Indra Joshi – Director of AI, NHSX
  • Naomi Radcliffe – Deputy Director of Tech Policy, NHSX
  • Rhod Joyce – Deputy Director of Innovation Development, NHSX
  • Ian Trenhold – CEO, Care Quality Commission
  • Fiona Watt – CEO, Medical Research Council
  • Felix Greaves – Director of Science, Evidence and Analytics, NICE
  • Gillian Leng – CEO NICE
  • Dame Fiona Caldicott – National Data Guardian
  • Graeme Tunbridge – Director of Devices MHRA
  • Johan Ordish – Deputy Director SaMD MHRA
  • June Raine – CEO, MHRA
  • Simon McDougal – Deputy Commissioner Regulatory Innovation and Technology, Information Commissioner’s Office
  • Alison Stradling – Head of Medical Devices Regulation, Medicines and Pharmacy Directorate, DHSC
  • Jackie Gray – Executive Director of Privacy, Transparency and Ethics at NHS Digital
  • James Hawkins – Director of Assurance and Risk Management at NHS Digital
  • Helen Vernon – CEO, NHS Resolution
  • Niamh Mckenna – CIO, NHS Resolution
  • Teresa Allen – CEO Health Research Authority

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