DORSET healthcare officials have welcomed the call by Prime Minister Theresa May to deploy Artificial Intelligence in the NHS to help prevent more than 20,000 cancer-related deaths by 2033.

In a speech delivered yesterday, the PM challenged the NHS, health charities, and the artificial intelligence sector to work together by pooling data to improve the diagnosis of chronic disease.

“The development of smart technologies to analyse great quantities of data quickly and with a higher degree of accuracy than is possible by human beings opens up a whole new field of medical research and gives us a new weapon in our armoury in the fight against disease,” said Mrs May.

Artificial intelligence can identify skin cancer in photographs with the same accuracy as trained doctors, scientists say, and Mrs May's hope is to see computer algorithms sifting through patients' medical records, genetic data and lifestyle habits to spot cancer.

Her plans were described as “pioneering” by Cancer Research who support the idea that the data-pooling and advances in detection technology could potentially save thousands of lives every year.

The initiative is also expected to assist researchers and medics treating other major conditions, including heart disease, diabetes and dementia and create jobs.

A spokesperson for The Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Any kind of advance that’s going to improve outcomes for our patients and reduce numbers of people receiving life-changing diagnoses is a good thing. The NHS should make full use of all data available and this is going to be very important to the future of healthcare.”