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An AI-enhanced NHS will rely on clinical guidelines, but what if the evidence is inequitable?

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: The UK's new 10-Year Health Plan for England sets out an ambitious agenda for an increasingly digitised and data-driven healthcare system, where artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to play a major role in realising long-term aims to deliver personalised medicine for all. A recent study highlighted poor consideration of sex and gender in National Institute for Health and Care Excellence clinical guidelines, which will be used to train AI models used by the NHS. When AI models are trained on inequitable data, they risk amplifying bias, with harmful implications for patient safety.

Source: BMJ Public Health

DOI: 10.1136/bmjph-2025-003922

Authors: Alice Witt, Rachel Hulme, Owen Wilkinson, Robyn Norton, Kate Womersley

Institutions: The George Institute for Global Health, Imperial College London, UNSW Sydney, The George Institute for Global Health, University of Edinburgh

Language: English

Topic: Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare and Education

Subfield: Health Informatics

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDGs: Reduced inequalities, Good health and well-being

Open Access status: diamond

Funder: Canadian Institutes of Health Research