Today (26 September) the government has launched the UK National Commission on the Regulation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Healthcare.
The Commission will be led by a committee, which will be responsible for advising the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) on a world-leading framework for the regulation of AI products. It will support the delivery of key commitments in the 10 Year Health Plan and Life Sciences Sector Plan, to modernise the NHS and boost UK health tech investment.
The HRA will work in a sub-group of the Commission alongside other regulators to support the advisory committee.
Advisors on the committee include experts who have worked with global tech companies such as Google and Apple, clinicians, regulators and representatives from across the healthcare sector in the UK and internationally. Together, they will ensure advice to the MHRA balances innovation with patient safety and guide how cutting-edge AI technologies can be responsibly integrated into everyday healthcare.
Our Non-Executive Director, Professor Alastair Denniston, is head of the UK’s Centre of Excellence in Regulatory Science in AI & Digital Health (CERSI-AI), and will be chairing the Commission.
Professor Alastair Denniston, Chair of the National CommissionThis is a vital and timely Commission which will position the UK as one of the world's most AI-enabled healthcare systems, one in which patients feel the benefits of these technologies in their everyday experience.
As well as shaping a new regulatory framework for 2026, we will be looking further ahead to the AI technologies of the future and making sure we are ready for them, ensuring that they are effective, safe and inclusive.
The HRA is already doing brilliant work to regulate research into AI, including having oversight of all clinical trials of AI health technologies in the NHS and working with other organisations to develop the AI and Digital Regulations Service.
I look forward to the Commission hearing from people across the UK and the whole health system to define the future of AI regulation in healthcare.
Matt Westmore, Chief Executive, HRAAI has the potential to transform the health and care landscape as we know it, and is a key part of the government’s ambitions for the NHS as outlined in the 10 Year Health Plan, as well as the commitments set out in our strategy, boosting research that improves health and grows the economy.
With the right systems, standards, and safeguards in place, we can unlock this potential and as a result, new technologies will transform care for patients, improve efficiency and boost the UK’s international competitiveness.
At the HRA, we are seeing an increasing number of applications relating to research that uses AI technologies, and our experts in this area of regulation are working closely with our Research Ethics Committees and Confidentiality Advisory Group members to share learning and support its ethical use in research.
We look forward to supporting the MHRA to deliver this Commission and bringing our expertise on developing regulatory practices that make it easier to do research that people can trust.