18 hours ago
Lucy Letby and Harold Shipman-style NHS killing sprees will be prevented in future with high-tech AI reforms
HI-TECH NHS reforms will help to prevent the next Lucy Letby or Harold Shipman, Wes Streeting has vowed.
The Health Secretary has insisted his AI rollout will stop serious incidents slipping through the net.
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He says he will introduce new measures to identify patterns of abuse, serious injury and deaths via an early alert system — part of a ten-year plan to be unveiled later this week.
Mr Streeting last night said: 'Even a single lapse that puts a patient at risk is one too many.
'Behind every safety breach is a person — a life altered, a family devastated, a heartbreaking loss.
'By embracing AI and introducing world-first early warning systems, we'll spot dangerous signs sooner and launch rapid inspections before harm occurs.'
Nurse Letby is serving 15 whole-life orders for murdering seven babies and attempting to kill seven more at the Countess of Chester Hospital.
GP Shipman is thought to have killed more than 200 patients over two decades.
He was convicted in 2000 and died in 2004.
The technology, still in development, will flag safety issues in real time — allowing Care Quality Commission officials to investigate and take immediate action.
Top NHS figure Prof Meghana Pandit said it would 'turbo-charge' the speed and efficiency of identifying patient concerns.
It came as Mr Streeting last week ordered a national investigation into maternity services.
Women and babies had been left at 'considerably higher' risk than what was necessary.
