The Heart & Circulatory Diseases All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) is undertaking an inquiry on the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on people with these conditions. With an estimated 11,000 people living with cardiovascular disease in Crawley I am pleased to chair this Group, which seeks to improve outcomes for patients.
In the autumn we welcomed clinicians, researchers, patients, and NHS and industry representatives to discuss the opportunities and challenges of using AI technologies in the NHS.
The Group has also conducted a public survey. The findings of this and the sessions held last year are being collated, with a report due to be published this coming spring.
Earlier this month, the National Health Service’s Long-Term Plan was launched. This will protect the future of our NHS for generations to come by ensuring every penny of the £20.5 billion of extra funding is spent wisely.
The Plan includes a new focus on prevention; keeping people out of hospital by improving their health and investing £4.5 billion in primary and community care, supporting GPs, health visitors and community nurses in Crawley and around the country.
It will also speed up diagnosis and improve the treatment of serious conditions like cancer and stroke, increasing the NHS workforce and bringing the NHS into the digital age. The Plan will support older people through more personalised care and stronger community and primary care services.
The NHS workforce is at the heart of the Plan, which will see the training and recruiting of more professionals; including thousands more clinical placements for undergraduate nurses, hundreds more medical school places, and more routes into the NHS such as apprenticeships.
Hours after the Plan was published, I questioned the Health & Social Care Secretary in the House of Commons on the Government’s future engagement with charities and the voluntary sector to ensure further progress against conditions including cardiovascular disease.
Such working is vital to ensure continued improvements for patients.
Henry Smith MP
