NHS is trying to fight the current strain on emergency departments by using new approaches, including artificial intelligence (AI), to identify patients most likely to use emergency services frequently
Adopting AI in the NHS aims to provide targeted support to vulnerable individuals before they reach A&E, improving their health outcomes and reducing pressure on already overburdened hospitals.
A&E strain: Addressing the challenges of frequent A&E visitors
Across the UK, more than 360,000 patients go to A&E over five times a year; this further adds to the growing demand for emergency departments.
A lot of people who frequently attend A&E have underlying issues like chronic health conditions, social isolation or struggle economically. This often leads to them going to emergency services for non-urgent matters.
To tackle this, the NHS has introduced high-intensity use (HIU) services, hoping to identify and support these patients earlier and ensure they can receive the right care at the right time.
How AI will change Predictive Healthcare in emergency services
HIU services use advanced data analytics and AI to identify individuals at high risk of frequent A&E visits.
The AI systems can predict who might benefit from additional preventative support by analysing routine hospital data, including medical history and previous visits.
When they are identified, patients are contacted by healthcare professionals, who can then offer options such as coaching, self-management advice, and assistance with non-medical issues like housing or employment.
This approach is already showing good results. In areas where HIU services have been implemented, the frequency of A&E visits has been reduced by more than half in some cases.
Helping vulnerable patients before they reach A&E
The NHS released some successful examples of this, including South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust recruiting a dedicated key worker to provide practical, emotional, and social support to individuals with high hospital attendance.
One of the success stories involved a patient whose visits to A&E dropped dramatically from 33 times per year to just a fraction of that after receiving personalised support.
In North East London, AI is being used more broadly to predict frequent A&E users and intervene early. By targeting patients with long-term conditions such as asthma or diabetes, healthcare teams can offer tailored support before these individuals experience a crisis.
This can include educating patients on self-management techniques or ensuring they have access to the necessary resources to manage their conditions effectively.
Relieving pressure on the NHS
The success of these initiatives depends not just on AI technology but also on human-centred care.
The HIU services are designed to address the main causes of frequent A&E visits, such as social isolation or inadequate housing, which are often linked to poverty.
For example, in Norfolk, a patient struggling with a serious condition and housing instability was able to work with the HIU team to address his needs. After receiving support, his visits to A&E stopped utterly, showing the importance of offering care past medical treatments.
These initiatives are part of a wider plan to reform the NHS by focusing more on preventative care and shifting the emphasis from hospital-based treatment to community care.This aligns with the NHS’s 10-Year Health Plan, which aims to transition from hospital to community-based care, from analogue to digital systems, and from reactive to preventative approaches.
By providing early intervention and addressing the underlying causes of frequent hospital visits, the NHS can improve the quality of life for vulnerable patients while reducing unnecessary strain on emergency departments.
As the NHS continues to face significant challenges, including an expected rise in winter illnesses, using AI and data-driven interventions to identify and support those at high risk of frequent A&E attendance offers a good solution to the current pressures on the healthcare system.
Using AI and community-based HIU services represents a crucial step forward in addressing the complex challenges the NHS faces.
