Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair advocates for selling access to NHS data to boost health innovation, particularly in the realm of artificial intelligence (AI) applications in healthcare. Blair, along with political rival Lord Hague, proposes that data from NHS records could serve as a foundational platform for AI technologies to enhance patient monitoring through wearable devices and alert healthcare providers.
This approach aims to enhance patient monitoring through wearable devices and alert healthcare providers, ultimately improving patient outcomes and healthcare delivery.
Recommendations include creating a public-private body called the NHS Data Trust—a body owned and controlled by the NHS in collaboration with trusted external partners—that would provide anonymised NHS data to research entities in return for financial profit.