In response to a government announcement of a national action plan to tackle ethnic and other biases in medical devices, Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive, NHS Providers, said:

"Patients need to be reassured that their diagnoses and care cannot possibly be compromised by any ethnic or other 'biases' in medical devices.

"Trust leaders know much more needs to be done to tackle deep-rooted structural racism, bias and discrimination in health services which leads to worse outcomes and experiences for people from an ethnic minority. It is also important that these inequalities do not become further entrenched through bias being reflected in artificial intelligence algorithms.

"Trusts work hard to tackle and get to the roots of existing inequalities in care and the action plan set out today is a welcome boost."