‘AI can help save NHS time’, director says
Barnsley is set to become the UK’s first ‘government-backed’ Tech Town.
Barnsley Council held an event with residents to show how the NHS, schools, colleges, and local businesses could benefit AI.
The council hosted the consultation at the Library @ the Lightbox on Monday, July 27, bringing residents, council staff, local NHS and school and colleges together.
Barnsley is set to become the UK’s first ‘government-backed’ Tech Town, providing local schools, colleges, businesses, NHS and more with government support on using artificial intelligence (AI).
The event aimed to hear feedback from residents and organisations about the use of AI in workplaces and everyday life.
The aim is for Barnsley to see improved public services, better support in schools, quicker NHS care, and new opportunities for jobs and skills for residents.
Tom Davidson, director of ICT for Barnsley Hospital, said: “Let’s say you’re a lead nurse on a ward and you’re running around making sure everyone’s got the right treatment and care that they need.
“Then you have to rush off to fill in risk assessments and try and move somebody forward to go for discharge. You can see how actually the use of AI would generally support that because of the administrative burdens.”
He said the hospital is currently using “ambient voice technology”, allowing clinicians to record conversations with patients, summarised by AI, to inform other healthcare services involved in a patient’s care.
“In an appointment you can imagine that half of the time is spent with the patient, and half of their time is spent doing administrative catchup.
“We’re making sure that we can manage the administrative burden on clinicians. When they’ve seen eight patients, they’ve got to remember about what they missed in patient three. You can see how difficult and challenging that is.”
Mr Davidson said that using AI is reducing the burden on administrative staff too, who now have more time to support patients.