The NHS is set to roll out a world-first AI-powered early warning system to detect safety concerns before they escalate, as part of the government’s upcoming 10 Year Health Plan.
The system will automatically analyse healthcare data to identify patterns of harm, helping to prevent failures and protect patients across England.
The initiative follows a pledge by the Health and Social Care Secretary to overhaul health and care regulation, root out poor performance, and guarantee safe, high-quality care for all. It comes in the wake of high-profile scandals in mental health and maternity services, which have raised serious concerns about patient safety.
The new system will use real-time data to flag emerging risks, such as unexpected spikes in serious incidents, deaths, or abuse. A Maternity Outcomes Signal System, launching in November, will be the first phase — monitoring stillbirths, neonatal deaths, and brain injuries across NHS trusts.
When concerns are raised, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) will deploy specialist inspection teams to investigate and take immediate action.
Sir Julian Hartley, Chief Executive of the CQC, commented:
“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.”
Built on the NHS Federated Data Platform, the AI system will reduce paperwork and manual inspections, freeing up staff to focus on patient care. It also supports the government’s wider digital transformation agenda — one of three key pillars of the 10 Year Health Plan.
The plan will also prioritise patient and staff voice, transparency, and personalised care, including the use of pharmacogenomics and AI-driven virtual support through the NHS App.
This announcement follows the government’s recent launch of a national investigation into maternity and neonatal services, reinforcing its commitment to safety, accountability, and reform.
Image credit: iStock
