Dr. Katharine Halliday, president of the Royal College of Radiologists (RCR), has warned that AI is no silver bullet and will not solve the waiting list crisis in the U.K. In a blog posted on 10 June. Ahead of the general election on 4 July, she has called for all political parties to develop stronger, more coordinated efforts in deploying AI into the National Health Service (NHS) in a safe and effective manner.
"AI has great and exciting potential but will not solve all the current challenges faced by clinical radiology and clinical oncology, or indeed the wider NHS," she stated. "NHS waiting lists will not magically disappear because of AI implementation. It needs to be carefully embedded as part of a wider set of measures including supporting the workforce which is already overstretched. Poor implementation of digital solutions can even mean that doctors have less time to spend with patients, so it is vital that we get this right."
Dr. Katharine Halliday.RCR
Halliday noted that there is eagerness and optimistic behavior over the possibilities raised by AI, and she said it is important to embrace innovations such as AI to boost capacity for radiology and oncology departments facing challenges such as workforce retention and logjams in training. But we cannot expect the technology to solve everything, she noted.
Halliday also wrote that AI will not and should not replace medical professionals, but rather make their workloads easier for targeted patient care. She added that the basics of AI must be mastered before the technology can be used effectively.
The full blog can be found here.
