UHNM Heart and Lung Centre to help develop national AI training

The Heart and Lung Centre at University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (UHNM) has received funding to help develop a national AI training programme.

As part of the funding from the British Heart Foundation, Sadie Bennett, cardiac clinical scientist at UHNM, will work with patients to look into the role AI plays within echocardiology.

Research began in January 2025 and will run until the end of the year, before national training material starts to be rolled out from 2026.

Bennett said: “UHNM’s Heart Support Group have been instrumental in the development of a future national training program designed at equipping healthcare scientists with the knowledge and skills needed to be able to use AI when caring for patients within echocardiography.

“The group were asked for their thoughts on AI technology being used within healthcare and, more specifically, within echocardiography.

“They highlighted concerns regarding patient safely, particularly if echocardiographers were not provided with appropriate training and educational resources.

“It’s as a result of these concerns the British Heart Foundation awarding funding for me to look into AI within echocardiography, work that will then be used in the development of a national AI training program.”

The funding follows the involvement of UHNM’s Heart Support Group, led by the trust’s cardiac rehabilitation team, in shaping future training in partnership with the British Society of Echocardiology.

Claire Peacock, clinical exercise physiologist at UHNM, said: “Both the Cardiac Rehabilitation Team and Heart Support Group are so pleased to have been able to help Sadie with her upcoming research project.

“Working in collaboration with our patients and listening to their concerns and thoughts, it has opened new avenues to be explored.

“This in turn has led to further multi agency working with the British Society of Echocardiography and the British Heart Foundation in the development of a national training programme for echocardiographers.

“This is wonderful to hear and shows the importance of how patient engagement and co production can shape the future of health care services.”

AI is already being used in the NHS for the diagnosis of heart and lung issues. In November 2024, it was announced that AI technology is being rolled out at seven NHS trusts within the Greater Manchester Imaging Network to help doctors detect diseases, including lung cancer, quicker.

On 13 January 2025, prime minister Sir Keir Starmer unveiled details of the government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan, which includes a national data library planned to unlock the value of public data, such as health data, and support AI development.

He said that the plan would “make our country an AI superpower”.