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HEALTH minister Matt Hancock wants to transform the UK’s National Health Service into a cutting-edge healthcare machine, and his current obsession is using genetic tests to assess people’s risks of developing a range of diseases (see “Genetic risk scores could help the NHS but they aren’t ready yet”). His own test showed an elevated risk of prostate cancer, he said – although experts pointed out that it was pretty ordinary.
It isn’t the first time Hancock has been distracted by something shiny, new and of uncertain value. The politician is a keen supporter of Babylon, which says its artificial intelligence can provide health advice on a par with human doctors. A review published in The Lancet says there is no convincing evidence that this is the case, and the AI might actually be far worse.
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That said, Hancock doesn’t like all technology. He has repeatedly railed against children’s use of smartphones and called for official limits on screen time, despite a lack of clear evidence to suggest such devices are harmful.
We all want healthcare providers to make use of modern technology when appropriate. But would it be too much to ask that the technology first be shown to work as advertised?
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