We cannot afford to test safety for the first time in the context of real patient care, writes our Clinical Director and Founder in Healthcare Today. But that is what is happening across the country with digital health and AI tools, he says.
Tick-box compliance exists on both the developer and implementer sides of digital health, and as a nurse working on hospital wards, he saw firsthand how compliance that exists on paper, but not in practice, can lead to avoidable harm.
The system rewards completion – box-ticking – over accuracy, and presence over quality. As long as something has been recorded, the requirement is technically met.
And tick-box compliance creates confidence that isn’t always justified. The self-certified ambient voice technology (AVT) registry is just a recent example where a box is ticked, but it doesn’t mean anything without further scrutiny from the buying organisation to confirm it.
Documentation without evidence is a really common issue – I’ve seen hazard logs with one-word descriptions to back up safety claims. On paper, the requirement is met. In reality, the argument is shockingly weak.
At that point, the burden shifts to the NHS organisation to identify missing pieces. Sometimes they do. Sometimes they don’t. When they do, it can kill trust, slow procurement, or even stop it in its tracks.
With growing scrutiny around AI and digital health, organisations must demonstrate that their systems are safe and well governed.
Read the full article in Healthcare Today for Dean’s view on how NHS organisations and suppliers can do this.
