BMA warn about risk to NHS data from AI

The British Medical Association (BMA) have warned about the dangers posed by artificial intelligence platforms used to manage health data for the NHS. They recommend a strategy for ‘data sovereignty’ to ensure patients’ information is kept safe.

The chair of the BMA’s Board of Science, Professor David Strain, has written a warning about the potential risks to NHS data with increased use of AI. The BMA recognise that the question is no longer whether AI will be used within healthcare, but who controls the data once it is implemented.

The BMA note that the NHS holds one of the most valuable datasets of health data in the world, with the potential of generating £10 billion each year if that data is used effectively. Artificial intelligence offers a way to do this, but it risks taking the control of the data out of the hands of the NHS.

Historically, the NHS has had a clear policy about healthcare data. Information from patients and professionals are stored in a publicly governed system even if that system is provided by private companies.

The use of AI across the NHS, and in a new Federated Data Platform (FDP), risks handing control over to external platforms. Additionally, some companies are subject to the legal rulings of their home countries, even if the data is stored in the UK. US-based platforms, for example, can be required to provide data to US authorities even if the data is stored in the UK or Europe.

The BMA recommend that a clear strategy is articulated for NHS ‘data sovereignty’. They advise that data generated by the NHS should remain under NHS control, with platforms being built on open standards and the UK developing its own data analysis capabilities.

Professor Strain said that “the NHS is on the verge of creating one of the most powerful health data assets in the world. The question is whether that asset remains under NHS stewardship, or whether the NHS becomes a data provider to platforms it does not control.”

“Loss of data sovereignty would affect economics, innovation, clinical decision-making, national resilience, and public trust,” he continued. “Data sovereignty is not a technical detail of digital transformation – it is the strategic issue that will determine who controls the future of the NHS.”