UK accepts all 44 AI healthcare recommendations and opens AI Airlock Phase 3

The UK government has accepted all 44 recommendations from the National Commission into the Regulation of AI in Healthcare, shifting its stated approach toward lifecycle oversight of AI-enabled medical devices rather than relying mainly on one-time assessments. The response also opens applications for the third phase of the MHRA’s AI Airlock regulatory sandbox, which will focus on post-market surveillance and lifecycle regulation.

The MHRA says it plans to publish draft guidance by December 2026 on how changes to adaptive AI-enabled medical devices should be managed over time. The government also plans to consult in 2027 on how AI-enabled devices should be qualified and classified, while exploring staged authorization pathways that could allow promising systems into supervised NHS use while further real-world evidence is collected.

A full implementation roadmap assigning timelines and responsibilities across the 44 recommendations is due by spring 2027, with progress updates to follow. The current announcement is a policy commitment and implementation plan, not evidence that every recommendation has already been put into effect.