Like many of us, I love listening to the tales, anecdotes and exploits of past generations, especially those retirees from our health service. They tell lore from their long careers, regale stories about the changes they’ve witnessed, and lament the disruptions caused during the many digital transformations. Suddenly, I feel my age as they talk about some of the initiatives I too worked on.
Reflecting on my part in the digital transformation of the NHS, I wonder if we got it all wrong. At the time, we seemed to have been obsessed with the allure of novel new gizmos, gadgets and computers, and didn’t really focus on their delivery of actual health and wellbeing outcomes. Instead of welcoming digitalisation as a new paradigm for health care, did we just adopt trendy new gizmos and apply a veneer of modernisation over “fossilised ways” of working?
Sir Jim Mackey, the new CEO of NHS England, recalled this too when setting the scene for the launch of the new 10-year health plan for NHS England. He referred to archaic processes and outdated practices in healthcare, some of which have “barely moved on” since its creation (by Welshman, Aneurin Bevan) in 1948.
During the recent pandemic, we rapidly learnt that such legacy thinking and archaic models, processes and practices from the last century were now obsolete in today’s contemporary digital world. As we now enter the post-digital era, pressure is again increasing to improve patient outcomes, and we are again being challenged on our fundamental assumptions about modern health care provision.
Could AI provide a new beginning in the Welsh NHS story?
As we contemplate the future, we have a little time to reflect on and challenge what we envision for a new AI-enabled NHS Wales. Unlike last time, it seems folly to just apply a veneer of AI modernisation to current legacy processes. Rather, we should use the promise of AI to reimagine and replace these archaic processes and practices.
To do this, we need to harness everyone’s creativity and rapidly chart new skill pathways for all our people, augmenting and fusing the human mind with advanced AI technologies. Now is the pivotal moment to reposition the NHS in Wales for this new era, if we are bold enough to seize it.
Past digital transformation only superficially changed health outcomes; previous modernisations seem to have been used to only reinforce traditional norms without dismantling these barriers to progress within the NHS. Whilst random new technologies have had localised successes, these are not scalable and now complicate, holistic national level efforts to aggregate all data and achieve interoperability across applications, boards/trusts and the nation. Instead of transforming how we care, we extended and gave a lifeline to old parochial ways of thinking and working, failing to challenge the processes, politics or small outdated thinking.
The ability to make agile, informed technology decisions is already becoming critical. By integrating clinical intent with multimodal data, nuanced behaviours and anticipation of needs, Welsh AI solutions are already providing a capability to respond with contextual precision, for example, AI algorithms to detect strokes and cancer, and a pain assessment and management app.
It is now time for an AI-enabled corporate transformation of Welsh health and wellbeing provision, but with a radical change in perspective. The first step is to reimagine roles and to link innovation, ideas, people, and data. Legacy operational models will not work in the AI era. But will the ‘uberisation’ of healthcare in Wales be the answer?
NHS Wales in the AI era
AI is expanding our potential by automating tasks and by integrating autonomous AI agents into the health service. These agents drive operational transformation, but they do still face challenges like data privacy, security, and fairness. However, with strong governance and partnerships, AI does promise new performance and effectiveness whilst reshaping traditional patterns.
NHS Wales has already prepared, embracing the new AI and Digital Healthcare Technologies Capability Framework and upskilling the workforce to deliver a digitally transformed healthcare environment. In an increasingly complex environment, AI-fuelled innovation and collaboration will enable the vision of an integrated, augmented, and modern health system.
The upcoming decade is projected to fundamentally transform the practice of medicine and the delivery of healthcare. As the AI era develops, a new data-driven culture is just starting to emerge. As the healthcare workforce continues to adapt to meet the needs of our changing society, AI presents a remarkable opportunity for leaders, visionaries and disruptors to write a whole new chapter in Welsh history; a whole new set of tales, anecdotes and exploits for future retirees to regale future generations.
