An AI tool has helped staff at Northampton and Kettering general hospitals review 62,661 chest X-rays. It flags possible cancers but a clinician still decides.

Chest X-rays at Northampton General Hospital are now checked by artificial intelligence as well as by staff. The software flags anything that may need a closer look, including a possible cancer. Scans with potentially critical findings move up the list to be reported first. (Northampton General Hospital, 13 November 2026)

The same tool is used at Kettering General Hospital. It reviews chest X-rays for patients aged over 16.

A clinician still decides

The hospital is clear that the AI does not make the diagnosis. A clinician examines every X-ray independently, checks what the software found and makes the final judgement.

Consultant radiographer Cornilius Mushambi called it “a second pair of eyes”. “It means potentially a patient can leave our hospital with both their X-ray and CT completed and reported on by a radiographer,” he said. Without the AI, he said, those steps might have been days apart.

The numbers

  • November 2024: the tool arrived, paid for by NHS England.
  • April 2025: staff began using it to decide which scans to report first.
  • 62,661: chest X-rays it has helped staff look at since then.

The hospital says that last figure counts scans. It is not a count of cancers found or of patient outcomes.

What could come next

For now, only radiology staff see what the AI has marked. The team is considering whether to share the marked-up images with other teams, such as the emergency department. That could help doctors see a flagged finding sooner, especially at night and at weekends.

What it means for you

If you have a chest X-ray at Northampton or Kettering General, the AI will look at it, but a person still reports it. If it spots something that looks urgent, your scan should be read sooner. In some cases that could mean a follow-up CT scan on the same visit rather than days later.