We often talk about AI in terms of productivity, disruption, or innovation. It's the engine behind market-leading performance, personalised commerce, and even real-time fraud detection. But every now and then, it’s worth pausing to ask: what does AI look like when it changes a life—not a profit line?
In healthcare, this is a practical, everyday challenge. And increasingly, the answer isn’t found in a new breakthrough algorithm or massive cloud migration. It’s found in simple, well-designed digital experiences that feel invisible… because they just work.
At Mastek, we’ve always believed that ethical technology is human-first. But it’s in projects with the NHS and other public sector leaders that we see this belief most vividly come to life.
Beyond the AI Hype: Where Technology Quietly Improves Lives
AI solutions
are often viewed through the lens of business value—and understandably so. Faster processing, smarter analytics, and scalable automation are all critical levers for enterprise success. But in the healthcare context, what often matters more is how unobtrusively AI supports people when they’re most vulnerable.
Imagine a woman in the UK navigating perimenopause, already dealing with fatigue, anxiety, and physical changes—and on top of that, facing rising prescription costs for vital hormone replacement therapy (HRT). It's not an abstract policy issue. It's personal. It’s daily. And for many, it's deeply financial.
Here’s where thoughtful digital intervention makes all the difference.
In partnership with the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA), Mastek helped design and implement a multi-channel digital service to support a government-led HRT Prescription Prepayment Certificate (PPC). This service, launched in April 2023, enables NHS to cap fees for their HRT medication—relieving cost burdens and reducing the need for complex manual processes. Built using Government Digital Service (GDS) principles, the solution is available via web, pharmacy-assisted, and telephone channels, ensuring accessibility for all.
But the point isn’t just the solution—it’s what it reflects: a future where AI and digital infrastructure serve quietly, ethically, and profoundly.
Human-Centred Design is the Real Strategic Advantage
For leaders in health and social care, there’s often tension between innovation and equity. The truth is, you don’t always need cutting-edge AI to deliver transformative outcomes. You need systems that understand humans.
Whether it’s simplifying prescription payments, flagging anomalies in patient care journeys, or supporting carers through intelligent scheduling, digital services should do more than optimise—they should reassure, in a trustful way.
That principle sits at the heart of the NHS Long Term Plan: digital should make care more personal, preventative, and accessible - and more efficient. Technology only earns its place in healthcare when it speaks the same language as the people who depend on it. Technology, in other words, must learn to speak “human.”
Resilience Begins with Responsible AI
When we think of resilience, it’s tempting to visualise cybersecurity dashboards or disaster recovery drills. But business resilience, especially in healthcare, increasingly depends on how usable, inclusive, and trusted your digital systems are.
Let’s take a moment to broaden what “risk” means:
- Operational risk arises when citizens can’t access services due to poor UX or digital exclusion.
- Reputational risk emerges when vulnerable groups feel underserved or neglected.
- Regulatory risk increases when systems don’t comply with accessibility or transparency requirements.
Ethical AI and responsible digital design directly mitigate these. They don’t just help you do things faster—they help you do them right.
And when systems like the HRT PPC service reach tens of thousands within days—quietly supporting women across the country—that’s resilience in action.
The NHS Long-term Plan: Where does AI fit in?
The recently published “10 Year Health Plan: Fit for the Future” sets out a transformative vision, anchored around three radical shifts—and lays the groundwork for human-first healthcare digital transformation.
The first shift, Hospital to Community is about creating Neighbourhood Health Services – integrated hubs offering GP, nursing, pharmacy, diagnostics, mental health, and social support under one roof. They aim to bring care closer, reduce pressure on hospitals, and create continuity of care.
In the second ambition on Analogue to Digital, the NHS App becomes the “front door” to care – your full record, appointment bookings, health guidance, and more – all in one place. Digital tools will be accessible, inclusive, and supported through community partnerships (e.g., libraries, App Ambassadors).
Finally, with the third focus on Sickness to Prevention, the plan is promoting a proactive health model: early screening, lifestyle support, tackling the social determinants of health. The system is being reoriented to predict illness, rather than treat it.
Embedded across all shifts are clear opportunities for ethical, human-centred AI. A clear example is around genomics and AI, with the NHS seeking to become the world’s most AI-powered care system—integrating predictive analytics and precision medicine. Also, robotics and automation where targets set for one in eight surgeries to be robot-assisted by 2035, and we're already seeing things like Voice‑AI and robotic process automation (RPA) being deployed liberally.
Why This Matters at Board Level
This conversation needs to move out of technology, and into the board.
AI isn’t going to “fix” healthcare. But your decisions about how to implement it—how to centre it around people, how to ensure equity of access, how to design for empathy —will define your organisation’s legacy.
Because when technology is deployed with empathy and accountability, it doesn't just transform services—it transforms lives.
And that has real business consequences:
- Stronger citizen satisfaction means lower service burden and fewer complaints
- Smarter automation means freeing up frontline staff for higher-impact care
- Inclusive design opens services to wider demographics, reducing health inequalities
- Trusted digital infrastructure ensures continuity across crises, from pandemics to economic shocks
In other words, human-centred AI isn’t just the right thing to do—it’s a strategic imperative.
What Comes Next
For healthcare leaders across the board (both public and private sectors)—now is the moment to act. The systems you're designing today will define not only your delivery efficiency but your social impact for decades.
Here are three ways to get started:
1. Audit your digital pathways: Are your services accessible? Inclusive? Emotionally intuitive?2. Design for real people: Don’t optimise for the average—understand edge cases, exceptions, and vulnerable users.
3. Work with partners who care: Choose technology allies who blend technical depth with empathy, and who understand what’s at stake when you go digital in healthcare.
At Mastek, we’re proud to stand at that intersection—where AI meets empathy, and where technology delivers efficiency and dignity.
If you’re looking to bring ethical, human-first digital services to your healthcare ecosystem, we’d love to collaborate.
Let’s build something that matters.
