UK to spend nearly £30m to expand AI diagnostics in the NHS; £20m to roll out chest X‑ray tools to trusts by 2029

The U.K. government said Wednesday it will spend almost 30 million pounds ($41 million) to expand artificial intelligence-assisted diagnostics in the National Health Service, including a 20 million-pound plan to roll out AI chest X-ray tools to every NHS Trust in England by 2029 as part of an effort to speed lung cancer diagnosis and cut waiting times.

The announcement, published June 10 by the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, and NHS England, centers on software designed to act as a virtual “second pair of eyes” for radiologists reviewing chest X-rays. The government said the technology is already available in half of NHS Trusts in England. It also said more than 4 million patients have already received a faster lung cancer diagnosis or an all-clear using the tools, and that early data shows radiologists can analyze scans in an average of four days, compared with eight days previously for the most complex cases. Those figures were reported by the government in its press release; no independent peer-reviewed evaluation for the turnaround-time claim was identified in the announcement.

A further 8.1 million pounds will fund pilots of six AI and digital technologies across 13 NHS sites — 12 NHS Trusts and one GP partnership — in England and Scotland. The National Institute for Health and Care Research-backed funding will support tools used for CT, ECG and X-ray analysis, digital therapy, and patient prioritization. The pilots cover a range of conditions including heart failure, stroke, lung cancer, lung infections and tic disorders.

The move forms part of a broader NHS cancer strategy. England’s National Cancer Plan, published in February, said AI would be used to help speed lung cancer diagnosis and linked faster diagnosis to the NHS goal of starting treatment within 62 days of a GP referral. Wednesday’s package also builds on the 21 million-pound AI Diagnostic Fund announced in June 2023 to accelerate AI deployment in NHS diagnostics. The government tied the latest funding to that diagnostic fund as well as Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s AI Exemplars program, which is intended to spread proven AI tools across public services.

Health and Social Care Secretary James Murray said the technology could help catch cancer sooner for patients who might otherwise face dangerous delays. “For too many patients, a cancer diagnosis tragically comes too late,” Murray said. “These AI tools are already changing that - giving radiologists a sharper eye, cutting waiting times, and getting people the lifesaving treatment they need faster.”

Groups cited in the government release, including Macmillan Cancer Support, Cancer Research UK, the Royal College of Radiologists and the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, broadly backed the direction of travel. But the message from those organizations was also that technology alone will not solve diagnostic bottlenecks: any gains will depend on enough staff, the right infrastructure, available capacity and careful implementation led by clinicians. As Digital Government Minister Ian Murray put it, “AI is not a future promise – it is already saving lives in our NHS today.”