Once held up as the model of public healthcare for the world, the NHS is now navigating one of the most challenging chapters in its history.
Years of underinvestment and mismanagement have strained its systems, demoralising staff and negatively impacting patients’ health. In addition, demand for services has reached an all-time high, driven by a rise in chronic illnesses and an aging population. The system is being stretched to its limits.
For the NHS to continue providing high-quality services, free at the point of care, reform is essential. Former Health Secretary Alan Milburn suggests that the biggest challenge is figuring out how to do more with less. And I agree. That’s where technology, such as artificial intelligence (AI), has emerged as a symbol of hope.
But the hard truth is that while the ambition is right, the foundations are not. Despite the UK’s enthusiasm for AI, examples of its implementation and deployment in the NHS are scarce. And where it is being tested, it’s often layered onto legacy systems rather than embedded into broader service reform. Bolting digital tools over broken processes and hoping for the best feels a bit like ‘papering over the cracks’.
Success in this space is less about deploying the ‘next big thing’ and more about getting the basics right, focusing on things like communication, data access, and trust. Unless we address these basic issues first, AI won’t outpace the current NHS reality.
Clear and personal communication is the foundation of loyalty
This quote from Forrester Research has stuck with me: “Communicating clearly is a great way to demonstrate empathy, a key lever of trust… but it requires getting the basics right first.” And nowhere is that more applicable than in the healthcare industry.
Communication plays a central role in shaping the patient experience, and in turn, influences whether patients feel informed, empowered, and cared for. When done effectively, it fosters trust, alleviates stress, and promotes better outcomes. Conversely, when done poorly or inconsistently, it causes confusion, diminishes confidence, and may lead patients to disregard care plans or miss follow-up appointments.
Our data shows that 85% of Britons believe communication is a crucial part of their overall experience with a healthcare provider, a strong signal that patients view communication not as an add-on, but as a core part of care delivery. And this expectation cuts across age groups – from Gen Z (85%) to Boomers (81%), every generation recognises the importance of clear, accessible, and timely communication in their care journey.
AI may be able to generate faster responses or automate touchpoints, but if what’s being communicated is confusing or devoid of empathy, it doesn’t matter how smart the system is. People won’t trust it and won’t rely on it in moments that matter!
Give people what they want – digital-first access!
For a system that focuses so much on digital transformation, the day-to-day experience still feels very much analogue. Paper letters, print-and-sign forms, and dialling in at 8am to phone lines that never pick up.
The demand to “go digital” isn’t new. In 2002, the National Programme for IT invested billions in rolling out electronic patient records. It was later shut down due to soaring costs and missed deadlines. Since then, progress has been slow and uneven. For half of the British public (53%) and nearly two-thirds of NHS staff (65%), digital tools and programs continue to fail to work as intended.
Yet, demand has never been higher! 71% of UK patients say they’d prefer to use digital tools to perform simple tasks, such as updating personal details or submitting a patient intake form. However, when the experience is clunky, people tend to give up. In fact, 65% say they’d abandon an interaction if a form-based process is too hard to complete. In healthcare, that could mean a missed referral, a delayed diagnosis, or a preventable health risk.
Fixing your forms is key to ‘Smart’ AI
The entire industry knows by now that without good data, there is no AI. In healthcare, most of that data starts with a form.
Whether it’s registering for care, updating medical history, or submitting a referral, forms are one of the most frequent patient touchpoints. Today’s forms are not easy or intuitive, often difficult to navigate, and not designed with real humans in mind. Currently, 41% of UK patients describe healthcare forms as “time-consuming.” What’s more, when you consider that 20% of NHS organisations are considered “digitally mature”, it’s clear that most of these forms are still manual or paper-based, which is a huge problem!
If we want to live in a world where AI assists us with administrative tasks and more, it must have access to accurate, structured, and up-to-date data. That’s not going to happen with PDFs that can’t be prefilled or intake forms that ask patients to repeat their details five times. This is where smart digital forms come in. By replacing static paperwork with guided, conversational, and mobile-friendly forms, the NHS can aim to reduce error rates, boost patient engagement, and expedite care delivery. And key here is that it serves AI with the high-quality data it needs to be effective.
Clearly, despite some early trepidations, people are open to using AI. More than 54% of the British public support the use of AI in patient care, and this support increases to 76% among NHS staff. But before AI can take its seat at the table, we need to modernise the way we collect and manage information. Because AI is only as good as the system it’s plugged into!
Prescription for progress
This isn’t about launching another app. Fixing this means investing in omnichannel orchestration, connecting every interaction, channel, and form to deliver a seamless, secure, and patient-first experience. Until that happens, AI will remain a high-potential tool stuck inside a low-functioning system.
