Evaluating accountability, transparency, and bias in AI-assisted healthcare decision- making: a qualitative study of healthcare professionals’ perspectives in the UK

Abstract Background While artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a powerful tool for enhancing diagnostic accuracy and streamlining workflows, key ethical questions remain insufficiently explored—particularly around accountability, transparency, and bias. These challenges become especially critical in domains such as pathology and blood sciences, where opaque AI algorithms and non-representative datasets can impact clinical outcomes. The present work focuses on a single NHS context and does not claim broader generalization. Methods We conducted a local qualitative study across multiple healthcare facilities in a single NHS Trust in the West Midlands, United Kingdom, to investigate healthcare…