Posted on: 10th November, 2026

Healthcare science leaders visit CoDE to explore opportunities for an AI-enabled NHS

The Centre of Digital Excellence (CoDE), based at the University of the West of England and funded by NHS England, provides a simulated sandbox environment where emerging digital technologies can be developed, tested and evaluated in a safe and controlled setting. Bringing together clinical, academic and technical expertise, CoDE uses a learning health system approach, generating evidence and applying learning from evaluation to support continuous improvement. Their aim is to support the safe implementation of emerging digital technologies into clinical practice.

On 8th October 2026, the Centre of Digital Excellence (CoDE) welcomed a multidisciplinary group of healthcare science, allied health professional and diagnostics leaders to its facilities at the University of the West of England (UWE), to explore CoDE’s work and the opportunities emerging digital technologies present for the NHS.

The visit included Professor Dean Fathers DL, AHCS Chair, providing an opportunity to share CoDE’s work with the organisation representing and supporting the wider healthcare science community.

The visit was organised and hosted by Dr Benjamin Johns, Clinical Innovation & AI Manager at CoDE, who has a professional background as a Clinical Scientist. Alongside Professor Dean Fathers DL, the visiting group comprised Sarah Cooper, Regional Lead Healthcare Scientist at NHS England South West Region, Sarah Ashley-Maguire, AHP Education Senior Specialist at NHS England South West Region, Toni Hall, Director of Network Operations and Strategy at NHS West of England Diagnostics Network and Dave Fisher, Pathology Network Director at NHS Severn Pathology.

The group received a tour of the CoDE facilities from Professor Richard Luxton and Professor Janice Kiely, before Dr Tom Draper and Dr David Attwood demonstrated ambient voice technology (AVT) in practice.

The demonstration used CoDE’s pre-Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (pre-CGA) work as an example of how AVT can be evaluated in complex healthcare workflows. CoDE has explored how AVT can capture information from extended, holistic assessments involving multiple interactions and use this information to generate structured pre-CGA documentation and support subsequent referral records. Previous simulation work has also explored the completeness and clinical accuracy of these outputs, reinforcing the importance of clinical review when considering the use of AI-generated documentation.

The visit provided an opportunity to reflect more broadly on the contribution that Healthcare Scientists can make to delivering the ambitions of the 10 Year Health Plan for England. The Plan sets out three major shifts for the NHS: from hospital to community, analogue to digital and sickness to prevention, supported by changes to the NHS workforce and its approach to innovation.

Healthcare Scientists are well placed to contribute to this transformation. Their roles span clinical services, diagnostics, medical technologies, data, research, innovation, quality and leadership. As AI and other emerging technologies become increasingly integrated into healthcare, scientific expertise will be needed not only at the frontline, but throughout the decisions that determine how technologies are evaluated, implemented and governed.

The discussion therefore considered the importance of engaging Healthcare Scientists at every level, from those delivering patient-facing and diagnostic services through to those contributing to strategic and Board-level decisions. Their scientific approach brings particular value: interrogating evidence, challenging assumptions, understanding uncertainty, identifying limitations and demanding appropriate ongoing assurance. This should not be about putting barriers in the way of innovation, but about providing the scientific rigour needed to enable the NHS to modernise safely, confidently and for the benefit of patients and service users.

Dr Benjamin Johns is also an NHS Fellow in Clinical AI and Clinical Safety Officer at CoDE. The NHS Fellowship in Clinical AI is a 12-month programme undertaken part-time alongside clinical work, designed to give healthcare professionals experience of deploying and evaluating AI within clinical workflows under expert supervision and as part of multidisciplinary NHS teams. The programme combines hands-on clinical AI projects with specialist education and access to a wider network of clinical AI expertise.

Reflecting on the visit, Dr Benjamin Johns said:

“Healthcare Scientists have an important opportunity to help lead the NHS through this next period of technological change. Our scientific training teaches us to interrogate evidence, challenge assumptions, understand uncertainty and demand appropriate assurance. Those skills are exactly what the NHS needs as AI becomes increasingly embedded in healthcare.

“We need to ensure Healthcare Scientists at every level are equipped with the knowledge and skills to engage confidently with AI and emerging digital technologies. Opportunities such as the NHS Fellowship in Clinical AI, alongside developing expertise in clinical safety, provide routes for scientists to build those capabilities. I would encourage Healthcare Scientists to take ownership of this agenda, help shape how the ambitions of the 10 Year Health Plan are delivered and ensure that technological change translates into real benefits for our patients and service users.”

Following the visit, Professor Dean Fathers said:

“As the Chair of the Academy, it is always a pleasure to engage with innovative scientific leaders, witness their work and learn how their successes are improving peoples’ lives either as health practitioners or as recipients of improved care practise. CoDE is an outstanding example of a health ecosystem coming together to empathetically work out how to improve people’s lives through advanced technological solutions. Their approach engineers out potential problems and codesigns value enhancing solutions before the technology reaches clinical practice, providing assurance alongside cost effective, value adding improvement.” 

The visit brought together perspectives spanning healthcare science, allied health professions, diagnostics, workforce and digital innovation. As the NHS accelerates its transition from analogue to digital, ensuring that scientific expertise contributes to how emerging technologies are evaluated, challenged and safely implemented will be important in turning the opportunities presented by AI into meaningful improvements for patients, service users and the NHS.