Artificial intelligence is no longer hovering at the edges of the NHS and social-care conversation; it is already changing the texture of everyday work. In its May 2025 long-read More than just hype: how emerging AI use is assisting health and social care, the King’s Fund moves the debate on from abstract promises to concrete examples.
Radiologists are handing routine “normal” scans to computer-vision algorithms so they can focus on complex findings; paediatricians report that AI-guided ultrasound has kept diagnostic accuracy steady while cutting scan times dramatically; and GPs experimenting with “ambient” AI scribes say they can devote their full attention to the patient rather than half-listening while they mentally compose notes. At the same time, social-care providers are testing generative tools that draft benefit forms and care-package summaries, releasing scarce staff hours for human conversations. Threaded through the report, however, is a note of caution: data bias, “drift” in model performance and silo deployments that push bottlenecks downstream will widen inequalities unless robust governance and cross-pathway planning keep pace with innovation.
Our forthcoming industry briefing, “AI Beyond the Hype: unpacking the King’s Fund’s latest insights for health & care”, takes this evidence as its starting point and turns it into an action-oriented discussion for leaders who must decide whether, where and how fast to scale these tools. Over the session, King’s Fund analysts will walk participants through the report’s findings.
By the end of the session, attendees will understand why the early productivity gains described in the King’s Fund analysis are only durable when organisations invest simultaneously in workforce skills, interoperable data infrastructure and continuous bias auditing. They will leave with a clear sense of how their own digital-maturity starting point stacks up against emerging exemplars, a checklist of governance questions to ask before signing the next supplier contract, and a portfolio of practical stories to galvanise colleagues who are still sceptical of “hype”.
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