TLDR: Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (GOSH) has announced a comprehensive AI strategy aimed at integrating artificial intelligence into clinical care, operations, and research to significantly improve patient outcomes over the next three years. Mark Coker, CDIO, emphasized the hospital’s commitment to leveraging data and AI to deliver personalized treatment, enhance decision-making, and optimize resource management.
Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust (GOSH) is embarking on a transformative journey by embedding artificial intelligence (AI) across its clinical care, operational processes, and research initiatives. This ambitious move, as articulated by Mark Coker, the hospital’s Chief Digital Information Officer, marks a ‘pivotal moment in time for digital innovation’ within the healthcare sector. The trust has officially published its AI strategy, co-authored by Coker and Andrew Taylor, Director of Innovation at GOSH, outlining a three-year roadmap to develop and implement real-world AI solutions designed to enhance patient outcomes.
The strategy encompasses a wide array of applications for AI. These include optimizing operating room schedules, developing predictive models to forecast demand in intensive care units (ICU) and manage bed occupancy, generating concise summaries of patient care prior to clinic visits and ward rounds, and even suggesting responses to messages from patients. Coker highlighted the critical importance of this initiative, stating, “With big national ambitions for the NHS to shift from analogue to digital, we must make sure that we are ready and ensure that care for children and young people is not left behind.”
The vision behind GOSH’s AI strategy is clear: to deliver practical AI solutions that not only improve patient care but also enhance corporate functions and streamline the working lives of staff, all while maintaining safety and sustainability. Coker further elaborated on the hospital’s commitment, noting, “We have a legacy of leading cutting-edge, world first research with our partners and as a digitally mature, intelligent research hospital, we are committed to harnessing the power of our data to help save and transform lives.”
Implementing AI-driven solutions is expected to yield substantial benefits. According to Coker, “Implementing AI-driven solutions will enable GOSH to increase the degree of personalised treatment we are able to provide, enhance clinical decision making and improve resource management.” He added that “AI can also optimise hospital operations through AI-driven scheduling, resource planning, and cost efficiency, ensuring that our resources are used effectively.”
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A crucial component of this strategy is the education and upskilling of the workforce in the ethical deployment of AI. The Chief Nursing Information Officer and a dedicated team of nursing and allied health professional (AHP) information officers are actively involved in ensuring that these innovations align with the needs of the staff, fostering a collaborative and informed approach to technological integration. The hospital’s Data Research, Innovation and Virtual Environments Unit serves as a central hub for these digital advancements, where experts in data science and analytics are already developing in-house AI solutions, including natural language processing and advanced imaging techniques.
