Kent Hospital Becomes First in NHS to Deploy AI Tool for Early Infection Detection
East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust has become the first NHS trust in the UK to introduce an artificial intelligence tool designed to help clinicians detect infections earlier, potentially improving patient outcomes and reducing hospital-acquired infections.
The technology, known as MEMORI, is being used at Kent and Canterbury Hospital as part of a partnership between the trust and UK health technology company Sanome.
The AI-powered system analyses routine clinical data already recorded in patients’ medical records, including blood test results, blood pressure, temperature, medications and demographic information. It then generates an infection risk score to help healthcare professionals identify patients who may be developing an infection before symptoms become clinically apparent.
According to the trust, nurses, healthcare assistants, consultants and therapists were involved in developing the system to ensure it aligns with everyday clinical practice.
Ward manager Julie Jones said the tool helps reduce the time staff spend reviewing patient records, allowing them to devote more time to direct patient care. She stressed that the technology is intended to support healthcare workers rather than replace them.
The rollout aligns with the NHS’s 10-year strategy to accelerate the adoption of digital technologies and artificial intelligence across the health service. MEMORI has been approved as a licensed medical device for healthcare use.
The trust’s Chief Clinical Information Officer, Mike Bedford, described the initiative as the beginning of a broader effort to use AI in improving patient care. While the current focus is on predicting hospital-acquired infections, he said the collaboration could eventually expand to support other areas of clinical decision-making and reduce the administrative burden on healthcare professionals.
Benedikt von Thüngen, who founded Sanome after his father developed sepsis, said the technology was designed to help clinicians spend less time analysing data and more time caring for patients. He added that the company has seen strong adoption of the tool, with most clinicians using it daily, and believes earlier identification of infections can help prevent patients’ conditions from worsening by enabling faster treatment.
