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Written evidence Innovation in the NHS: personalised medicine and AI

Press/Media: Expert comment

Description

Innovation in the NHS: personalised medicine and AI

Inquiry

Advances in artificial intelligence and genomics offer the prospect of developing truly personalised medicine across prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Our inquiry will seek to use this as an example to explore a broader question: why does the NHS adoption of the UK’s cutting-edge life sciences innovations often fail, and what could be done to fix it?

Period20 May 2026

Media contributions

1

Media contributions

  • TitleWritten evidence from Peter Freeman, Lecturer in Healthcare Sciences (Clinical Bioinformatics and Genomics), The University of Manchester and support by Policy@Manchester (PMA0037) Generative AI was used to assist in the initial drafting of this response. The author accepts responsibility for the contents of this submission.
    Degree of recognitionNational
    Media name/outlethttps://committees.parliament.uk/work/9659/innovation-in-the-nhs-personalised-medicine-and-ai/publications/written-evidence/?page=4
    Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
    Date20/05/26
    DescriptionExecutive summary



    This submission responds specifically to Question 3: Health Data Research Infrastructure. Drawing on my technical leadership in genomic data standards, international editorial experience, and work training NHS bioinformaticians, it outlines the key systemic deficiencies in the UK’s health and genomic data infrastructure and provides concrete recommendations to ensure the NHS can fully realise the benefits of personalised medicine and AI.
    The key barrier to NHS genomics innovation is not sequencing or computational limitations, but inconsistent and inaccurate variant data standards, which prevent reliable linkage across labs, electronic health records, research systems and AI tools.
    Variant nomenclature errors are universal and systemic, undermining diagnostic accuracy, evidence discovery and AI training; without enforced HGVS‑aligned standards, national datasets will remain fragmented.
    The NHS lacks a central, standards‑aligned genomic database and validated data‑egress tools, resulting in divergent representations across Genomic Laboratory Hubs, and blocking national reanalysis, AI deployment and evidence pooling.
    Government action is needed to mandate standards, co‑commission specialist national tooling, and invest in the genomics bioinformatics workforce, ensuring interoperability, public trust, improved diagnostics and UK leadership in personalised medicine.
    Producer/AuthorPeter Freeman, Policy@Manchester
    URLhttps://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/165745/html/
    PersonsPeter Freeman
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