NHS app to use AI to determine which service best for patients

The NHS app — already a marvel of digital dysfunction — is getting an AI triage tool to 'help' patients choose a service. It asks questions, then directs to a GP, pharmacy, A&E, community service, or 'self-care advice' (code for 'go away'). The pilot targets 200,000 patients in the next year — a tiny fraction of the millions contacting the NHS daily. But why solve the real problem when you can add a chatbot?

The goal is to reduce pressure on frontline services by filtering demand. Because the issue has always been patient indecision, not undermanned wards or exhausted staff. Now an algorithm will assess your symptoms — what could possibly go wrong when someone with chest pain gets told to try a pharmacy? Call it a learning system: the AI will improve by making mistakes, with patients as the test subjects.

This is the latest in a long line of NHS digital transformation initiatives, a phrase that historically signals impending IT disaster. The tool is rolled out with the usual optimism, promising to handle 200,000 patients over 12 months. By year's end, the AI might be able to tell flu from a cold, or at least stop recommending A&E for paper cuts. Progress.