UK regulators to hold public forum on AI safety in healthcare
The UK's Patient Safety Commissioner and the head of medicines regulator the MHRA will host an online public engagement session on 20 May to discuss how AI should be used safely in healthcare.
Professor Henrietta Hughes, the Patient Safety Commissioner, is inviting patients and the public to submit questions in advance and join an "Ask me anything" format discussion. Lawrence Tallon, Chief Executive of the MHRA, and Professor Alastair Denniston, Chair of the National Commission into the Regulation of AI in Healthcare, will also participate.
AI for Healthcare applications are moving into clinical practice faster than regulatory frameworks can keep pace. This session represents part of the MHRA's effort to gather input before finalising recommendations on how to oversee these technologies.
What the public engagement has revealed so far
The MHRA has conducted extensive consultation with patient groups, carers, people with learning disabilities, and young people over recent months. The findings show a clear pattern in public attitudes toward AI in healthcare.
People are more comfortable with AI tools that support clinicians-such as reducing administrative work-than with systems that make high-stakes decisions independently. Across all discussions, trust emerged as the central concern for whether AI benefits can actually be realised in practice.
Three requirements consistently appeared in feedback: human oversight of AI decisions, transparency about how the systems work, and evidence that they perform safely across different patient populations.
Regulatory recommendations coming this summer
The National Commission's formal recommendations are on track to be published this summer. Hughes said the guidance will reflect input from multiple stakeholders rather than a single perspective.
The MHRA worked with National Voices, which represents over 200 patient advocacy groups, and partnered with The Health Foundation on public discussion sessions and polling. These efforts deliberately included voices often absent from healthcare policy conversations.
Professionals working in healthcare can register for the 20 May session and submit questions in advance through the MHRA website.
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