Damien Moore MP welcomes Government AI funding award for Southport and Formby Primary Care Network.

Damien Moore MP has welcomed the news that the Southport and Formby Primary Care Network will benefit from the NHS and the Government’s backing for nine ground-breaking AI technologies to improve speed and accuracy of diagnoses and tackle waiting lists.

Mendelian has been awarded £1.4 million to support an AI system capturing disease features from

electronic health records across a patient population, matching patients to published diagnostic

criteria for hundreds of rare diseases. The MendelScan system will be trialled across the Southport and Formby Primary Care Network.

Tens of thousands of patients across the country could benefit from quicker, earlier diagnoses and more effective treatments for a range of conditions, as the Government invests nearly £16 million into pioneering artificial intelligence research (AI).

Nine companies have been awarded funding through the third round of the AI in Health and Care Awards, which is accelerating the testing and deployment of the most promising AI technologies. 

The winners include AI systems which can help detect cancer, diagnose rare diseases, identify women at highest risk of premature birth and support the treatment of neurological conditions like multiple sclerosis. The funding will be used to support the testing, evaluation, and adoption of their technologies by the NHS.

In total, so far £123 million has been invested in 86 AI technologies across three rounds of awards supporting over 300,000 patients and improving their care and treatment for health conditions such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, mental health and neurological disorders.

Damien Moore, Member of Parliament for Southport, said: 

“I welcome this announcement that the very latest in innovative AI technology will be used to improve healthcare outcomes for our town, and I am very pleased to be supporting the Government in this vital funding.

“Throughout my time as Southport’s MP, I have always stood up for and championed high quality healthcare. I will continue to do all I can to ensure that my constituents receive this locally, from exciting new technologies such as MendelScan, to the return of the children’s A&E to Southport.”

Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Steve Barclay MP, said: 

“Artificial Intelligence has the potential to speed up diagnoses and treatments and free up time for our doctors and nurses so they can focus on caring for patients. Around 300,000 people have already benefitted from companies supported by our AI awards, with tens of thousands more set to benefit. 

“These schemes includes technology that could recognise the signs of cancer more quickly and accurately, predict which women are more likely to give birth prematurely or analyse electronic health records to detect the signs of an undiagnosed rare disease.”