NHSE warns that AI translation apps could impact patient safety

NHS England has raised concerns that the inappropriate use of AI translation apps in healthcare could cause risks to patient safety. 

The ‘Improvement framework: community language translation and interpreting services’, published by NHSE on 27 May 2025, warns that digital exclusion can prevent the one million people in the UK who do not speak good English from accessing NHS services.

It also highlights “concerns about the appropriate use of AI translation apps that are currently widely used across the NHS” to communicate with patients with limited English.

“While translation apps provide a convenient, familiar and timely means of translation, they can also carry risks, particularly regarding accuracy and the potential impact on patient safety,” the framework says.

NHSE calls on national programme teams to develop a national policy briefing on the ethical and appropriate use of AI in healthcare for translation and interpreting services.

This would include measures to ensure the clinical safety and accuracy of AI outputs, outline when AI tools are suitable and when alternative methods should be prioritised, and specify the appropriate and safe use of AI tools for translation and interpreting.

The framework also recommends that clear guidance is developed across all care settings for recording patients’ language needs in electronic patient records.

Responding to the NHSE framework, Jess O’Dwyer, general manager, Europe at health tech firm Pocketalk, said that a “spectrum of solutions – human and digital” are needed to ensure the right tools are applied to the right scenarios.

“Technology has a critical role to play, but security and privacy barriers can slow down integration.

“Our own research shows that many frontline workers are already turning to unapproved tools like Google Translate on personal devices – not out of choice, but necessity.

“This underlines the urgent need to raise awareness of safe, effective, and approved digital solutions.”

She added that countries, such as France, are embracing AI in healthcare and “seeing rapid improvements in access and efficiency”.

“The UK must be bold enough to follow suit. We must also dispel the myth that digital solutions are inherently less secure or less accurate,” O’Dwyer said.

The NHSE framework highlights that translation and interpreting services are inconsistent across the NHS, and that people with limited or no English face higher risks of being digitally excluded.

For example, they may have limited access to online services or not be able to use the NHS App because it is only available in English.

“It’s therefore vital that the dual nature of technology – both as an enabler and a source of inequity and mistrust – is always carefully considered when developing digital solutions.

“Technological advances should be co-produced with people with lived experience and be guided by the Inclusive digital healthcare framework,” the framework says.

Pocketalk’s handheld translation device was used across a network of eight GP surgeries in Southampton between April and August 2024, as part of a real-world validation study in partnership with SCALE Innovation.

The firm says that it is in discussion with more than 25 NHS trusts in England and 30 in Ireland.