UK needs to act urgently to secure NHS data for British public, report warns

Algorithms based on NHS records could seed an 'entirely new industry' in AI-based diagnostics and mint billions for tech companies, strategic review reveals

The government must act urgently to ensure that patients and UK taxpayers - not just tech companies - gain from new commercial applications of NHS data, an independent review of the UK life sciences industry has said.

Sir John Bell, a professor of medicine at Oxford university who led the government-commissioned review, said that NHS patient records are uniquely suited for driving the development of powerful algorithms that could transform healthcare and seed an "entirely new industry" in AI-based diagnostics.