CULTURE CHANGE
We talk to the UK ’ s first Head of Clinical Artificial Intelligence to find out how AI can transform its National Health Service .
38
Dr Tom Lawton MBE is a Consultant in Critical Care and Anaesthesia at Bradford Teaching Hospitals in the north of England , where his role involves looking after patients in intensive care . In the summer of 2019 , the hospital trust gave him the additional role of Head of Clinical Artificial Intelligence , a first for the UK ’ s National Health Service ( NHS ).
Lawton ’ s career initially began in IT rather than in medicine . After working as a computer programmer he went to medical school and ended up specialising in critical care , although he remained very interested in data research , particularly around big data and how it can help healthcare .
Lawton explains that with his groundbreaking appointment as Head of Clinical Artificial Intelligence he intends to find ways artificial intelligence can help the healthcare system , particularly in terms of the huge amounts of data being generated .
“ One of the things that ’ s happening in the NHS is that there ’ s more and more information available about all our patients ” he says . “ You used to have a set of paper notes whereas now you ’ ve got data coming in from doctors and tests , and you just get this onslaught of information .”
JANUARY 2021