The AI-powered tools can be used by doctors to help diagnose and treat conditions such as strokes, cancers, and heart conditions more quickly.

According to the government, the funding will be open for bids for any AI diagnostic tool that trusts want to deploy, but will have to “represent value for money for the funding to be approved.”

In addition to the £21m fund, the Health and Social Care Secretary, Steve Barclay, has also committed to rolling out AI stroke diagnosis technology to all stroke networks by the end of 2023 — up from today’s 86% — helping patients suffering from a stroke to get treated faster.

So far, the government has invested over £120m into 86 different AI technologies aiming to support stroke diagnosis, screening, cardiovascular monitoring, and managing conditions at home.

“Artificial intelligence is already transforming the way we deliver healthcare and AI tools are already making a significant impact across the NHS in diagnosing conditions earlier, meaning people can be treated more quickly,” Barclay said.

“As we celebrate the NHS’s 75th birthday and look ahead to the future, I’m focused on adopting the latest cutting-edge technology across our health and care system to ensure we can continue to deliver the best care for our patients and cut waiting times, which is one of the government’s five priorities.”

Dr Katharine Halliday, President of the Royal College of Radiologists, also commented, saying: “At a time when diagnostic services are under strain, it is critical that we embrace innovation that could boost capacity – and so we welcome the Government’s announcement of a £21 million fund to purchase and deploy AI diagnostic tools.

“All doctors want to give patients the best possible care. This starts with a timely diagnosis, and crucially, catching disease at the earliest point. There is huge promise in AI, which could save clinicians time by maximising our efficiency, supporting our decision-making and helping identify and prioritise the most urgent cases.

“Together with a highly trained and expert radiologist workforce, AI will undoubtedly play a significant part in the future of diagnostics.”

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In a bid to help NHS staff find information and guidance on deploying AI devices safely, the government recently announced its AI & Digital Regulation Service.

The government said that this has “made it easier for developers and adopters of AI to understand regulations governing AI in the NHS,” and is “saving them time in bringing products to market.”

While AI has the potential to revolutionise healthcare, the Pew Research Center found that six in ten adults said they would feel uncomfortable if their healthcare provider relied on artificial intelligence for things like disease diagnosis.

Despite the public concern over the use of AI in crucial settings like healthcare, AI is showing promise in its ability to support doctors and other medical professionals to help their patients.

In May this year, DIGIT reported on the news that researchers from the University of Edinburgh found that their AI-based tool, “CoDE-ACS,” was able to rule out a heart attack in more than double the number of patients when compared to current testing methods, and with an accuracy of 99.6%.