By BigBrotherWatch: Two
reports published this week have focussed the public’s attention on the
arrangement between DeepMind and the Royal Free Hospital.
The two reports; one by the Information Commissioners Officer (ICO)
and one by an Independent Review Panel created by DeepMind themselves,
have looked in detail at the arrangement, which has been in place since
September 2015.
The arrangement, the first of its kind in the UK, gave DeepMind (a
company owned by Alphabet, the parent company of Google) access to 1.6
million Royal Free patient’s medical data in order for DeepMind to carry
out clinical safety testing on their new software ‘Streams’. Streams is
being developed to improve the care of patients with Acute Kidney
Injury through an algorithm which alerted staff of new lab results which
could speed up patient care.
Obviously in a world where big data and technology are seen as the
panacea to all problems, it is logical that the NHS would seek to
exploit opportunities in this area. We certainly don’t raise objection
to the attempts to improve healthcare for the 21st century.
