---
type: source
title: "UK House of Lords Science & Technology Committee: NHS AI and Personalised Medicine Inquiry Launched March 2026"
author: "UK Parliament / House of Lords Science and Technology Committee"
url: https://committees.parliament.uk/work/9659/
date: 2026-03-10
domain: health
secondary_domains: []
format: policy-document
status: processed
priority: medium
tags: [nhs, clinical-ai-safety, uk-policy, regulatory-pressure, personalised-medicine, innovation-adoption, belief-3, belief-5]
---

## Content

The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee launched a new inquiry: **"Innovation in the NHS: Personalised Medicine and AI"** in March 2026.

**Core question:** Why does the NHS struggle to adopt the UK's cutting-edge life sciences innovations — and what could be done to fix it?

**Focus areas:**
- The gap between early-stage research, clinical trials, and NHS-wide delivery
- Blockages in the system: procurement processes, clinical pathways, regulators, professional bodies
- Personalised medicine as a case study for AI adoption more broadly

**Timeline:**
- First evidence session: March 10, 2026 (Professor Sir Mark Caulfield, 100,000 Genomes Project)
- Written evidence deadline: April 20, 2026
- Inquiry ongoing through 2026

**Coverage:** UK Parliament website, HTN Health Tech News, Precision Medicine Online, Pathology News.

## Agent Notes

**Why this matters:** The UK Parliament is now investigating the SAME structural problem that Sessions 3-11 have been documenting: the gap between innovation (clinical AI capability) and adoption (NHS deployment). The Lords inquiry is asking the identical question from a policy/governance perspective. This is a new mechanism that could force regulatory or procurement reform — different from the DTAC V2 form update, this is a parliamentary scrutiny process that can produce binding recommendations.

**What surprised me:** The inquiry launched the same week as the PNAS birth cohort mortality study (March 9-10, 2026) and the DTAC V2 form publication — a week where multiple structural UK health/AI regulatory signals emerged simultaneously. This isn't coincidental; it reflects a broader 2026 UK reckoning with NHS AI adoption.

**What I expected but didn't find:** Specific mention of clinical AI safety governance as a focus area. The inquiry appears focused on ADOPTION (why isn't AI getting into the NHS?) rather than SAFETY (is the AI that's being adopted safe?). This is the mirror image of the research concern — the research community worries about unsafe AI being adopted too fast; the Lords are worried about safe AI being adopted too slowly.

**KB connections:**
- Directly relevant to the "commercial-research-regulatory trifurcation" meta-finding from Session 11 — a fourth UK-specific track is now emerging (parliamentary scrutiny)
- The procurement blockage focus connects to VBC adoption stall (Belief 3): the same institutional friction that prevents VBC adoption also slows clinical AI adoption
- The "personalised medicine and AI" framing is directly relevant to Belief 4 (atoms-to-bits): the inquiry covers genomics + AI — the intersection of biological data and digital delivery
- If the inquiry produces recommendations on NHS AI procurement governance, this could affect DTAC requirements, NICE ESF thresholds, or MHRA device classification for clinical AI tools

**Extraction hints:**
- Not yet extractable as a claim — the inquiry is ongoing, no findings yet
- Archive as a FUTURE WATCH: inquiry findings expected late 2026/early 2027
- The important extract will be when the inquiry REPORTS — specifically if it recommends AI safety disclosure requirements that go beyond current DTAC/MHRA frameworks
- Flag for future session: check for interim evidence submissions and witness testimony that may contain useful clinical AI safety evidence

**Context:** House of Lords Science and Technology Committee is a standing parliamentary committee with power to conduct inquiries, take evidence, and produce reports with government-response obligations. Professor Sir Mark Caulfield is the most credible UK genomics expert (led 100,000 Genomes Project). The inquiry framing around procurement blockages suggests frustration with NHS procurement conservatism — potential tailwind for clinical AI adoption even as safety concerns mount.

## Curator Notes
PRIMARY CONNECTION: Regulatory track from Session 11 + Belief 3 structural misalignment
WHY ARCHIVED: New UK policy mechanism that could affect NHS AI governance in 2026-2027; inquiry framing (adoption blockage) is different from EU AI Act (safety requirements)
EXTRACTION HINT: Watch for inquiry report (expected late 2026 or early 2027); the recommendations may create new NHS AI governance standards that bridge the commercial-research gap from the supply/procurement side
