In 2016, at the official opening of the Scottish Parliament, then first minister Nicola Sturgeon issued a call to arms for Scotland to be “bold and ambitious” with new ideas.

She invoked the spirit of first minister Donald Dewar, who in 1999 declared that it was “about more than our politics and our laws. This is about who we are, how we carry ourselves.”

Fast forward to 2024, and things feel very different, especially with regards to our health and social care. Recently, cabinet secretary for health and social care of Scotland Neil Gray declared he was “open to ideas” of how to ease the strain on staff and patients.

If ever a time for boldness was needed, it is now for our health ecosystem. So what can ease the considerable pressures on manpower, primary and social care services?

For those of us working in technology, there is a solution that is crying out to be utilised far more effectively – artificial intelligence.

AI can drive efficiencies, improve working practices, and above all, significantly improve health outcomes. We need it introduced across the board to transform our NHS.

Regional NHS boards are making incremental advances. NHS Lanarkshire has piloted a digital warning system at University Hospital Monklands in Airdrie as it prepares to open Scotland’s first digital hospital in Wester Moffat in 2031.

Meanwhile, NHS Grampian has piloted an AI tool called Mia, which analyses the mammograms of more than 10,000 women and identified tiny signs of breast cancer in women which had been missed by the human eye.

A similar example to Mia exists in Finland, called AI Head Analysis. It assists radiologists in reviewing brain CT scans and detecting early brain bleeds.

Through AI Head Analysis, a radiologist and AI analyse the images independently. Then a further layer of AI compares both using algorithms moulded from a digital archive containing over 20 million images of non-traumatic cerebral haemorrhages to formulate a separate, overarching solution.

AI Head Analysis not only detects brain bleeds that can’t be seen with the naked eye, it directs the radiologist to the most appropriate patient health outcome far more quickly.

But in Scotland, this is nowhere near fast enough. Our population is ageing. If we think the system is struggling now, imagine how busy things are going to be when the baby boomer generation reaches 80+ years of age?

One example of AI driven diagnostics which can drive hugely transformative change is a field called Digital Triplets. Once a clinician and AI analyse the clinical data and digital images independently to seek a resolution, known as a Digital Twin, a further layer of AI uses generative AI to interpret the data and create further recommendations, diagnoses and ‘scenarios’, and use explainable AI to communicate the results of these scenarios to the consultant in natural language.

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Digital Triplets can be used in any setting, but in health they are particularly transformative. They significantly improve accuracy of diagnoses thanks to the sheer speed of analysing multiple sources of data and integrating it. It provides detailed evidence of what course of treatment is best, and tailor the treatment to the specific needs of that patient.

Digital Triplets don’t break the bank. Yes investment is needed. But the return on that investment in freeing up time for health professionals reducing waiting times through quick, accurate diagnoses, and intervening at the right time is priceless.

But AI is just a tool. We humans need to be the bold ones to make it work properly.

It’s 2024, let’s embrace that boldness and use AI to transform our health care needs.