The UK will be the first country in the world to use an AI system to analyse hospital databases and catch potential safety scandals early, the Government has announced.
The technology can identify patterns of abuse, serious injuries, deaths or other incidents that can slip through the net.
When concerns are raised, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) will send out specialist inspection teams to investigate, the Department of Health and Social Care said.
It follows a spate of scandals in the NHS.
Last week, Health Secretary Wes Streeting announced a national investigation into “systemic” failures in NHS maternity care after families were “gaslit” in their search for the truth.
Mr Streeting said embracing AI would make it easier to spot danger signs earlier.
The new safety warning system is being developed as part of the Government’s “10-year health plan”, due to be announced this week.
A new maternity AI system will launch across NHS trusts from November, using “near real-time data” to flag higher-than-expected rates of stillbirth, neonatal death and brain injury.
Mr Streeting said: “While most treatments in the NHS are safe, even a single lapse that puts a patient at risk is one too many.
“Behind every safety breach is a person, a life altered, a family devastated, sometimes by heartbreaking loss.
“By embracing AI and introducing world-first early warning systems, we’ll spot dangerous signs sooner and launch rapid inspections before harm occurs.
“This technology will save lives, catching unsafe care before it becomes a tragedy.
“It’s a vital part of our commitment to move the NHS from analogue to digital, delivering better, safer care for everyone.”
Professor Meghana Pandit, co-national medical director – secondary care, said: “The NHS in England will be the first country in the world to trial an AI-enabled warning system to flag patient safety issues which will rapidly analyse routine hospital data and reports submitted by healthcare staff from community settings.
“The move will turbo-charge the speed and efficiency with which we identify patient safety concerns and enable us to respond rapidly to improve patient care.”
CQC’s chief executive Sir Julian Hartley said: “We will develop a stronger focus on all dimensions of quality, using data which we and partners hold on inequalities in access, experience, and outcomes to spot and act on risk earlier.
“We are already developing our new clearer, simpler, assessment approach, and in the future our experienced teams of inspectors, led by our newly appointed chief inspectors, will be able to conduct more inspections and share feedback on the findings more quickly – so that providers can make faster improvements, and the public have timely information about care.”
Responding to plans for a new early warning system for NHS patient safety concerns RCN general secretary and chief executive Professor Nicola Ranger said: “The guaranteed way to improve care is to raise staffing levels.
“In the NHS today, one nurse can be left caring for 10, 15 or more patients at a time.
“The situation is drastically unsafe.
“By the time an inspection takes place, it could already be too late.
“Technology will always have a role to play, but having the right number of staff on the front line of care is the place to start the investment to make patients safe.”
