Show Notes
This week on Pulse: Hot Topics, Louise and George unpack a rapidly shifting healthcare landscape, where AI is no longer theoretical, but already embedded in patient behaviour, clinical risk, and global policy responses. And a big win for the UK’s digital health workforce!
Ireland’s AI Strategy for Health - Ireland releases a national AI for Care strategy, positioning AI as core infrastructure for healthcare delivery, with strong emphasis on governance, workforce integration, and data readiness. A rare example of a country moving beyond pilots into system-wide planning
AI Named #1 Patient Safety Risk - ECRI ranks AI-driven diagnostics as the top patient safety concern for 2026, highlighting risks like automation bias, poor integration, and lack of governance, reframing AI as a clinical safety issue, not just a technology one.
Apple Forces Health Apps Into Regulation - Apple mandates that health apps declare whether they qualify as medical devices, signalling a major shift from platform neutrality to accountability, and potentially reshaping trust, compliance, and developer behaviour globally
Patients Are Already Using AI - New research from KFF, NEJM AI, and The Lancet shows that consumers are actively using AI for health advice, often before seeing a clinician, with evidence that AI is influencing real-world behaviour and reshaping care pathways
NHS Recognises Digital Health Workforce - The NHS formally recognises its digital, data, and technology workforce as a professional group, a major milestone that elevates digital health roles and signals their critical importance to patient outcomes.
Resources: Horizon Europe Grants Link Ireland’s AI for Care Strategy 2026-2030 Pulse+IT Link ECRI 2026 Top 10 Patient Safety Concerns report Link KFF poll on consumers use of AI in health Link ESSENCE study, published in the NEJM AI Link Sara Riggare and Charlotte Blease in Lancet Primary Care Link
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