Kate Warriner, Chief Transformation and Digital Officer, Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust, talks to Grant Powell MBCS about how AI is being used to reduce clinician workloads, improve patient experiences, and shape the future of children's healthcare while maintaining the highest standards of safety, governance, and trust.
The successful use of artificial intelligence within healthcare requires much more than simply implementing new technology. It demands strong clinical leadership, robust governance and a clear focus on improving care. At Alder Hey, AI is already delivering tangible benefits through Ambient Voice Technology (AVT), while the Trust's longer-term ambitions span diagnostics, predictive analytics, and digitally enabled support for families. Kate Warriner explains how Alder Hey is translating AI ambition into practical outcomes for children, young people, families and staff.
How has technology, including robotics, improved the hospital experience at Alder Hey?
Alder Hey uses a range of technologies to improve patient care and hospital efficiency. These include telemedicine robots, which allow children to communicate remotely with family, friends and healthcare staff via mobile video-screen devices; logistics robots that transport supplies, laundry and waste around the hospital; and a robotic pharmacy system that helps dispense medicines safely and efficiently.
The Trust is also exploring advanced surgical robots that enable surgeons to perform highly precise, delicate procedures on children. Together, these technologies could help to reduce staff workload, streamline operations and enhance the overall patient experience while supporting innovative healthcare delivery.
Alder Hey has seen encouraging results from Ambient Voice Technology. What have been the biggest benefits so far, and have any outcomes surprised you?
Ambient Voice Technology (AVT) has been one of our most successful AI deployments. We began rolling it out in 2024, and now just under 95% of our clinical letters are produced using the technology, with around 1,500 clinicians using it. Previously, much of the documentation process involved typing notes or dictating letters, which were then transcribed, whereas now the AI tool handles much of that work during the consultation itself.
For families, the consultation feels more personal because clinicians spend less time looking at screens and more time engaging directly with children, young people and parents. This means more eye contact, better conversations and a stronger connection during appointments.
One of the key benefits for clinicians that we didn't fully anticipate was the reduction in cognitive load, where not having to remember every detail and document it afterwards has significantly reduced the mental burden of consultations. This has been a hugely significant and very positive outcome.
How important have clinicians and leaders been in turning AI from a strategy into solutions that make a real difference?
They've been critical. We have a strong culture of innovation at Alder Hey and some fantastic clinical leaders who help drive the adoption of new technologies. One of our greatest strengths is that our clinicians are not just willing to use new tools; they actively lead change and shape how those tools are implemented. We have chief clinical information officers, a chief nursing information officer and a chief admin and operational officer working together as a multidisciplinary team. Clinical leadership helps ensure that digital innovation aligns with the needs of patients and staff.
We're also fortunate to have strong support from our board and executive team. There's a real ambition across the organisation to be at the forefront of digital innovation, which helps create a culture where people feel encouraged to embrace new technologies.
Being a children's hospital also influences our approach. Children and young people have grown up with technology all around them, and they expect organisations like ours to be forward-thinking. That expectation helps reinforce our commitment to innovation.
How do you balance AI innovation with ensuring it is safe, effective and trusted by families?
Safety always comes first. We're excited about the opportunities AI presents, but we only deploy technologies once we've demonstrated that they're safe, effective and clinically appropriate. Every solution goes through rigorous governance processes, including information governance reviews, data protection impact assessments and clinical safety assessments. We also maintain an AI register and ensure appropriate oversight of everything we deploy.
Families are central to the process. We have active forums involving children and young people, and we engage with them whenever we're looking at introducing new technologies. We want to understand their concerns and make sure their voices are heard.
Consent is also essential. For example, whenever AVT is used, families are asked for permission beforehand. If they don't want it used, we don't use it. By involving families early and being transparent about what we're doing, we've been able to build trust while continuing to innovate.
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How is Alder Hey ensuring that patient data is protected and that AI outputs can be trusted?
Protecting patient data is completely non-negotiable for us. Any technology we deploy must meet the same rigorous standards we apply to all healthcare systems. That includes strong information governance, cybersecurity and privacy requirements. We work closely with information governance specialists, our data protection officer and our clinical safety officers whenever we assess new technologies. Those experts are involved from the very beginning to ensure privacy and safety are built into the process rather than added later.
We have strong expertise within the organisation and robust governance arrangements that enable us to assess innovative technologies before they enter clinical use. For us, trust is fundamental. Innovation only succeeds if patients, families and staff have confidence in the systems being used.
How do you assess AI’s potential return on investment?
Every investment goes through a structured business case process where we assess expected benefits and track them throughout implementation. In some cases, there are clear financial savings because new technology replaces older systems or removes inefficient processes. In other cases, the benefits are less tangible and can be harder to quantify.
Again, our use of AVT provides a good example. Previously, a clinician would dictate a letter, a transcription team would type it, it would be reviewed and then processed before being sent out. Now the letter can be generated, reviewed with the family, and signed off during the consultation itself. This removes a significant amount of administrative work and speeds up the entire process.
However, we don't just look at financial benefits. We assess technologies across safety, quality, productivity, efficiency and experience. Some solutions help identify deterioration in patients more quickly, creating important clinical and safety benefits alongside any cost savings. Healthcare organisations must consider the full value of innovation rather than focusing solely on financial return.
Which areas of AI do you believe have the greatest potential to transform children's healthcare over the next five years, and why?
Several areas are particularly exciting, such as the opportunity to use AI to improve flow and efficiency. As a digitally mature organisation, we have strong data foundations, and AI can help us better utilise that information to improve the way care is delivered.
Predictive and personalised care is another major opportunity. AI has the potential to help us identify risks earlier, better understand population health needs and tailor care more effectively to individual patients.
Diagnostics is also an area with enormous potential. In paediatrics, there has generally been less progress in diagnostic AI than in adult healthcare, so there's a significant opportunity to improve outcomes for children and young people.
Alongside that, we're seeing exciting opportunities emerge through collaboration. Earlier this year, we signed a memorandum of understanding with five other UK paediatric centres and a world-leading paediatric hospital, SickKids, based in Toronto, and launched collaborations with various government partners to share learning on AI. Those partnerships will play an important role in shaping future innovation.
Finally, I think AI has huge potential to empower families by helping them access services more easily and become more active participants in care.
What does success look like for Alder Hey’s AI strategy, and what are the next major milestones?
Our strategy is centred on empowering everyday lives through AI. For colleagues, success means AI becoming part of everyday work and helping people do their jobs more effectively so they can focus on delivering excellent care.
For children, young people and families, success means putting a digital version of the care we provide into their hands and enabling them to access support in new and more convenient ways.
Partnerships will be central to that vision. We already work with a range of organisations through programmes such as the Paediatric Open Innovation Zone, and we're continuing to develop new collaborations.
Our next major milestones involve progressing several new international partnerships and exploring opportunities across urgent and emergency care, wider hospital services and community-based care pathways.
Ultimately, success is about bringing together the expertise of many different partners and using AI to create meaningful improvements for children, young people, families and staff. That's the future we're working towards at Alder Hey.
Further related reading:
https://www.bcs.org/articles-opinion-and-research/health-and-social-care
