Nell Thornton

Had the absolute (and slightly scary) pleasure of being a panellist on today's BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour special on AI and women's health.

🎧 You can listen back here: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Responsible AI is about more than safety and ethics, it’s using AI to make things better for everyone

“Women’s health should not sit behind a paywall” 👏👏👏

Fantastic stuff on health apps and ensuring equality in women’s health from Amber Vodegel at #Rewired25

Malte Gerhold from @healthfoundation.bsky.social at #Rewired25 - by 2040, 1 in 5 people in England will be living with a major illness. We need to innovate on how we deliver care and transform how it is experienced

Excited to be speaking at #Rewired25 this afternoon on how the public and staff feel about AI and health.

Find me on the Patient Engagement and Outcomes Stage at 3pm!

I'm speaking at Rewired 2025 Nell Thornton, Improvement Fellow at the Health Foundation #Rewired25 18–19 March 2025 The NEC (Hall 2) Birmingham digitalhealthrewired.com

Our Improvement Fellow, @nellthornton.bsky.social will present the findings from our survey of over 8,000 NHS staff and members of the public, investigating attitudes towards health technology and data use.

🕐 18 March, 15.00–15.45 at the Patient Engagement and Outcome stage

Harnessing public perception to drive responsible AI in healthcare As healthcare continues to embrace technology, understanding public and staff perceptions of innovations like AI is not just a nice-to-have - it is essential. At...

📖 And if you missed it, here's my piece on harnessing public perception to drive responsible AI in healthcare:
www.healthcare-management.uk/harnessing-p...

📢 Not long to go now until #Rewired25!

I'll be on the 'Patient Engagement and Outcomes' stage at 3pm on Tues 18 March talking about the findings from our @healthfoundation.bsky.social survey of ~8,500 NHS staff and members of the UK public, investigating their attitudes towards AI in healthcare.

Great to speak at this on how the public and NHS staff feel about AI in health, the need for a dedicated national strategy, and to put responsibility at the core — AI must work for all people, society and the planet.

Nell Thornton #womeninAI2025 women are less likely to think AI will improve the quality of care, and are less supportive AI for care: women have less faith in the technology and have more faith in the people operating it.

A real privilege to talk at #WomeninAI2025 today on our @healthfoundation.bsky.social research looking at how women feel about AI and health.

Knowing what women think is critical for getting tech right. We cannot have an AI revolution if we leave half the population behind

🎉 Hugely honoured to be named on @healthinnovkss.bsky.social and the Department for Health and Social Care's 2025 list of AI Visionaries alongside some truly fabulous people working to advance women’s health & gender equity through artificial intelligence!

healthinnovation-kss.com/2025-ai-visi...

Great to speak at #GIANT2024 today on ‘The Trouble with AI’ - there are of course reasons to be cheerful, but plenty of reasons to be cautious. We need considered, challenge-driven, responsible AI that works for *all* people, society and the planet 🧍‍♀️👥 🌎

𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀:
➡️ The public do not support the NHS seeing their social media data
➡️ 75% would share some of their health data to build AI - but 25% would not share any
➡️ Many people are happy to help shape healthtech, but ppl on low income are much less willing - even if paid

𝗪𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀:
➡️ The public think healthtech & data will improve care quality, but those on low income are less positive
➡️ The public worry about tech that might ‘distance’ them from staff, like care robots
➡️ Public trust in the NHS with health data is high, despite recent incidents

How does the public feel about health technologies and data? This analysis outlines the findings of our public survey on attitudes towards health technologies and data – and what they suggest for engaging with the public.

🎉 New @healthfoundation.bsky.social publication!

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮? Findings from our 2024 attitudes survey

For the 2nd time, we asked the UK public how they feel about healthtech & data being used in their care ⬇️

www.health.org.uk/publications...

Gracie is all of us trying to make it through to Christmas

For the NHS to use AI responsibly, the public must support it. While 54% support AI for care, 1 in 6 think it will make the quality of care worse & 53% think it will make them feel more distant from health care staff.

We must protect the human dimension of care.

www.health.org.uk/publications...

Priorities for an AI in health care strategy A dedicated strategy for AI in health care is needed. Here, we present six key priorities it must address.

Howdy Bluesky, I’m Nell! 👋 I’m a Fellow @healthfoundation.bsky.social leading research into AI, tech and innovation in health, and recently published on why we need a national AI in health strategy, with responsibility at its core, and what it should focus on: www.health.org.uk/publications...