The Science and Technology Facilities Council’s (STFC) Hartree Centre and the Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust have announced a strategic partnership to advance artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare across the trust to optimise patient outcomes.
The collaboration is a pivotal step towards realising the potential of advanced digital technologies in NHS healthcare to elevate the quality and effectiveness of patient care and contribute to healthier lives.
The announcement closely follows Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt’s budget announcement of £3.4 billion funding to support digital transformation in the NHS as part of wider plans to boost productivity.
Under this strategic collaboration, the Hartree Centre and Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust will embark on a series of scoping projects. The projects will explore the adoption and integration of advanced digital technologies, from AI to quantum computing. These projects will specifically focus on mapping out pathways to enhance healthcare solutions, with a primary goal of optimising patient outcomes.
The intention is to address challenges across the board, including:
- outsmarting disease with faster and more accurate detection and diagnosis
- more personalised healthcare
- an upskilled workforce, empowering healthcare professionals with the skills to harness digital technologies for improved productivity and patient care with less time spent on administrative tasks
- advanced AI systems for enhanced prediction and decision-making across the board, including mental healthcare
Located at STFC’s Daresbury Laboratory, at Sci-Tech Daresbury in the Liverpool City Region, the Hartree Centre is the UK’s only supercomputing centre dedicated to industry engagement. It is home to some of the most advanced computing, data and AI technologies in the UK, enabling productivity, innovation and growth in UK businesses and organisations.
Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest NHS trusts in the country, serving over 1.4 million people and managing more than three million outpatient attendances annually. It is particularly renowned for its leadership and provision of mental healthcare to patients nationally.
Kate Royse, Director of the STFC Hartree Centre said: “Our mission is to equip UK industry with the knowledge, skills, and compute needed to fully unlock the potential of advanced digital technologies. This collaboration is not just about technology; it’s about enhancing the digital skills of the UK NHS workforce and making digital technologies more accessible. From automating tasks, to monitoring at-risk patients, the ultimate aim is to optimise patient outcomes, to the benefit of the whole of society.