Attention Economy and Institutional Trust

The lure of health influencers and AI chat bots is strong. More and more people are placing trust in them to answer their health problems, misplaced trust - as we know these AIs can misinform.

At the same time, people are struggling to access the NHS, and when they do doctors have little time or the right tools to unpick complicated science, and challenge misunderstandings.

So in this roundtable, we’re asking, are we in danger of the NHS making the problem of misinformation worse, and what can we do to combat that.

Joining Kamran Abbasi, the BMJ’s editor in chief are:

• Deborah Cohen: Freelance Journalist; Senior Visiting Fellow at LSE Health
• Kamila Hawthorne: Chair of the National Academy for Social Prescribing
• Nnena Osuji: Consultant haematologist and CEO of North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust

Chapters

• [00:00] The rise of health influencers
• [03:55] Patient satisfaction and the NHS
• [05:58] The "Infodemic" and clinical impact
• [11:04] Digital literacy and health inequalities
• [16:40] Questions from the audience

Reading list:

• Cohen D. Bad Influence: How the Internet Hijacked Our Health. Oneworld Publications; 2026.
• Satisfaction with NHS hits record low, but public still back founding principles - The BMJ