NHS AI Lab and Health Education England call for healthcare staff to be trained in AI
A new report published by the NHS AI Lab and Health Education England (HEE) has advocated for training and education for providers in how they deliver and develop AI guidance for staff.
The report, entitled ‘Developing healthcare workers’ confidence in AI (Part 2)’, is the second of two reports in relation to this research and follows the 2019 Topol Review recommendation to develop a healthcare workforce “able and willing” to use AI and robotics. It is also part of HEE’s Digital, AI and Robotics Technologies in Education (DART-ED) programme, which aims to understand the impact of advances of these technologies on the workforce’s education and training requirements.
In the previous report, the AI Lab and HEE found that many clinicians and staff were unaccustomed to the use of AI technologies, and without the suitable training patients would not be able to experience and share the advantages.
The new report has set out recommendations for education and training providers in England to support them in planning, resourcing, developing and delivering new training packages in this area. It notes that specialist training will also be required depending on roles and responsibilities such as involvement in implementation, procurement or using AI in clinical practice.
Brhmie Balaram, Head of AI Research and Ethics at the NHS AI Lab, added: “This important new research will support those organisations that train our health and care workers to develop their curriculums to ensure staff of the future receive the training in AI they will need. This project is only one in a series at the NHS AI Lab to help ensure the workforce and local NHS organisations are ready for the further spread of AI technologies that have been found to be safe, ethical and effective.”
Source: Health Tech Newspaper, 25 October 2022