Can the ten-year plan save the NHS? Heart scans with AI, and who invented condoms?

Inside Health

BBC

Health & Fitness, Science

4.4 • 575 Ratings

🗓️ 15 July 2025

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The Prime Minister has launched a 'new era' for the NHS that aims to move away from reactive care in hospitals to preventing illness through community services. It's an ambitious plan and one with a lot of ambition and a lot of unknowns. James Gallagher discusses the plans with Sarah Woolnough, Chief Executive of The King's Fund, an independent think tank working to improve health and care across England, and Sally Gainsbury, Senior Policy Analyst at the Nuffield Trust, specialising in evidence-based research on health and social care provision in the UK.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being touted as a way to improve efficiency and save money in the 10 Year Plan and every day in healthcare there are headlines about new AI-driven tools that could revolutionise medicine. In a new mini-series, James hears about different ways AI is being used starting with heart scans that use AI to analyse large amounts of data to predict health outcomes in a way that would be near impossible for a human to achieve. He talks to Dr Arunashis Sau from the National Heart & Lung Institute at Imperial College, London.

Also, with a 200-year-old condom made from a sheep's insides attracting crowds to the Rijksmuseum in The Netherlands, James finds out about the history of condoms with cultural historian Dr Kate Stephenson.

Presenter: James Gallagher Producer: Tom Bonnett Additional production: Ella Hubber Editors: Glyn Tansley and Martin Smith

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, you're about to listen to a BBC podcast, and I'm Ed Gamble, host of another BBC podcast,
0:05.4	The Traitors Uncloaked. But my show is available only on BBC Sounds, just like Ellis and John's
0:10.6	Saturday bonus episodes, the Pop Top Ten podcast with Scott Mills and Ryland, and comedy specials
0:16.2	from the likes of Harriet Kemsley, Susie Ruffel and Rommas Shranger Nathan. However, and maybe I'm biased, it's really all about the traitors uncloked.
0:24.3	So for a whole bunch of exclusive scoops and podcasts, listen only on BBC Sounds.
0:30.5	BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.
0:34.3	Hello there and welcome to the Inside Health podcast. I'm James Gallagher. Have you ever wondered how
0:39.7	condoms were invented? Who looked at sheep intestines and went, I know what I can use that for? Or how
0:46.0	the first sexual encounter went? Just slip this on, babe, and we're good to go. Well, we're going to
0:51.9	delve into the history books to find out in a bit.
0:54.5	But first, let's focus on the future,
0:56.7	because we're starting our investigation into how artificial intelligence could change healthcare,
1:02.7	and AI is one component of the government's 10-year plan for the NHS.
1:07.3	That's our main focus today.
1:09.4	The Prime Minister, Sir Kirstama, says the plan will
1:12.2	fundamentally rewire and future-proof the National Health Service. There are big themes in there,
1:18.4	all about moving care out of the hospital and closer to home, harnessing the power of technology
1:23.1	and putting more effort into stopping people getting sick in the first place.
1:27.9	So, how good is the vision? Will it make a difference to us as patients?
1:32.2	Will it even save the NHS?
1:34.9	Well, to discuss, I'm joined in the studio by Sarah Woolner, the chief executive of the King's Fund,
1:40.2	and Sally Gainsbury, a senior policy analyst at the Nuffield Trust.
	...

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