63% trust NHS in the use of AI in public services, the only public sector body with a net trust over 50%
LONDON, Feb. 26, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- New research from Appian (Nasdaq: APPN) shows the NHS is the most trusted organisation for responsible AI use, ranking higher than any other public or private sector organisation, including banks, retailers, and consumer tech firms.
The 2026 UK Public Sector AI Adoption Outlook, conducted by Censuswide on behalf of Appian, polled 1,000 UK public sector workers and 1,000 UK citizens. It reveals that the NHS stands apart from the rest of the public sector when it comes to public trust in the use of AI. The NHS is trusted by 63% of citizens to use AI responsibly-more than any other public sector organisation and the only one with a net trust over 50%.
By contrast, fewer than half of UK citizens trust central government (39%) or local councils (44%) to use AI responsibly. The NHS also ranks higher than consumer-facing organisations, including banks (55%), retailers (60%), and technology companies (54%).
High trust overall but uneven comfort with clinical AI
While trust in the NHS to use AI responsibility is high, comfort with specific AI use cases is more mixed. Over half of public sector workers (56%) say they are comfortable with AI analysing NHS scans and diagnostics, compared with just 40% of citizens sharing that sentiment. The findings highlight a gap between institutional trust in the NHS and public confidence in the use of AI for clinical decision-making.
NHS seen as best place to benefit from AI use
One year on from the AI Opportunities Action Plan, where the Government allocated £2bn to implement AI research and resources, the new Appian research found that the NHS is the part of the public sector most likely to benefit from AI investment, with 30% of public sector workers and 29% of citizens agreeing.
When asked how they hope to benefit from integrating AI into public services, citizens placed faster services and shorter wait times (35%), improved safety (26%), and easier-to-use digital services (26%) at the top of the list.
Patient communication should be a priority
The findings in the report highlight that NHS organisations should pair any clinical and non-clinical AI rollout with clear explanations, human oversight and demonstrable safety measures-especially at a time when public understanding of how AI is used in the public sector remains low.
In fact, 75% of citizens cannot name a single way the government currently uses AI, suggesting a major communications and transparency opportunity for government to publish accessible explanations of where and how AI is used.
Is the NHS ready?
Despite strong public trust, there are relatively low levels of organisational readiness within the NHS, with just 6% of respondents working in healthcare describing their organisation as "fully able" to leverage AI, signifying a substantial delivery gap.
A majority of respondents say process readiness and "fixing basic processes" should be a priority over AI implementation, with both public sector workers and citizens agreeing (55% and 56%, respectively) that this should come before introducing new AI technologies.
"The NHS is widely seen by both public sector workers and citizens as the area of public services most trusted and likely to benefit from AI," said Peter Corpe, Industry Leader, UK Public Sector at Appian. "To bridge the delivery gap, healthcare leaders must avoid the temptation of 'shiny new toys' and instead look to improve the patient journey with AI embedded in core processes to give it purpose, guardrails and goals and make it effective, safe and measurable."
The report confirms that not all public sector organisations apply AI to improve established workflows. Some adopt it as a bolt-on experiment (23%) or as a standalone work tool (22%), with little or no integration with existing core processes. This suggests that 45% of government AI applications are not implemented as part of an integrated process improvement, creating potential challenges for delivery and impact. This lack of integration into existing processes was one of the reasons MIT found that 95% of AI investments have produced no return in a 2025 report.
Corpe concludes: "AI delivers when it's given a job inside a governed process which moves it beyond experimentation into integrated, measurable programmes. The advice is clear to healthcare leaders: Give AI the right data, guardrails and purpose, and organisations will deliver outcomes that are safe, auditable and easier for the public to get behind. The key is to start with the process and embed AI within it."
Download the 2026 UK Public Sector AI Adoption Outlook for the full findings.
About Appian
Appian provides process automation technology. We automate complex processes in large enterprises and governments. Our platform is known for its unique reliability and scale. We've been automating processes for 25 years and understand enterprise operations like no one else. For more information, visit appian.com. [Nasdaq: APPN]
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