What does ‘ChatGPT for Health’ mean for UK Clinics?

Regardless of whether or not you follow the latest developments in the niche that Motics lives, the convergence between healthcare and artificial intelligence, you will have probably read about the launch of ‘ChatGPT for Health’ in the past 24 hours. OpenAI has been (not so) subtly hiring health-tech heavyweights over the past few months; whilst being keen to disclose that over 40 million people across the world use ChatGPT for healthcare advice at least once a day. So, we can’t pretend that this is a surprise. The demand for the product and the clinical oversight to boot were clear. It was only a matter of time until something like ‘ChatGPT for Health’ arrived.

ChatGPT for Health in the UK and EU

Those in Europe can breathe for one moment, because ChatGPT for Health will probably take a while to arrive, having been intentionally withheld from the UK, EU and Switzerland for now. The most significant barrier here is data sovereignty. The data protection standards (i.e. GDPR) in these countries are there to shield individuals and require high levels of compliance which, if you ask Motics, take time, despite being critical endeavours. OpenAI are not there yet. The issues are compounded by third-party infrastructure, namely that of b.well, a US-based company serves as the connectivity layer for ChatGPT Health. Essentially, this integration enables patients to input specific context. But, with b.well being based in America, UK patient data cannot be moved through such a pipeline without complicated legal implications. This is a critical issue for passing the compliance checks required for roll out in the UK and EU.

A further complication in the roadmap for OpenAI’s deployment of ChatGPT for Health here are changing domestic regulations around AI in Healthcare. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) recognise the acceleration in the level of AI disruption. AI tools (like Motics’ suite) enable operational efficiency in documentation, whilst others provide screening and diagnoses, whereas patient-facing chatbots such as OpenAI’s new product are used by as many as 1 in 10 people for health advice. As such, the MHRA launched a National Commission in September 2025 to advise on a new regulatory framework for AI in healthcare, with the Commission’s recommendations yet to be published. At the moment, any AI providing tailored health advice on specific personal records is usually classified as a medical device, and undergoing the UKCA marking process for this is a rigorous, specific process. Given how the product has been used, ChatGPT for Health can be considered a medical device. The intentionality gap here is wide as far as the UKCA may be concerned. OpenAI’s strategy has been to keep the product in the ‘Wellness/Information’ category, marketing it as ‘support’. The problem arises when users inevitably treat outcomes as a ‘diagnosis’. As such, this is a hurdle for OpenAI to jump over before rollout in the UK is possible.

The Legal Debate in the UK

The ongoing discussion in the UK on AI in healthcare centres around trust. In 2026, we’ve had a few years of AI slop, accelerated misinformation and reactive compliance regulations to keep up with the rapid pace of AI innovation. People are tired, and just want something they can trust. When AI hallucinations and confidently states false medical facts or provides suboptimal medical advice; moreover affirms patients to follow their own initial diagnoses without having access to the complete picture, it cannot be trusted at scale. Legally, this creates huge problems: if AI gets it wrong, gives advice that leads to a delayed diagnosis or misinforms patients about their condition: who claims responsibility? There is righteous caution in the UK, and especially within the NHS, about how this works, especially when technology is patient-facing. A human in the loop is considered a necessity, as much as for understanding context as liability. Ultimately, the debate is far from settled and there is no perfect solution, since healthcare is always context-specific.

How can ChatGPT for Health be an advantage for clinics?

At first glance, the idea of ‘Dr. ChatGPT’ is a panic for healthcare professionals on multiple levels. An initial question, one which has righteously worried the industry for years: what if it replaces the clinician? What if the cost, speed and accuracy of an intelligent AI means patients skip the doctor entirely? OpenAI has been keen to emphasise that this is not the purpose of their product, but the opposite. But will that hold up in practice?

When examining the private healthcare market, it is worth considering that despite generative AI chatbots becoming increasingly used for health queries, total patient numbers have consistently risen by around 3% per year since 2022. People value a healthcare professional’s insight for what matters most, even if they can find faster answers online. In practice, chatbots were little different from what Google used to be for most patients use cases: but now they can understand context, nuance and narratives. Unfortunately for AI, those patient-delivered narratives can often be bound by ill-informed context and nuance only truly understandable at the point of human contact.

ChatGPT for Healthcare comes at a time where the culture around health and wellness has shifted. The rise in consumers turning to private healthcare, especially in the UK, comes at a time where longevity is king and health is viewed as an essential lifestyle investment, not something to fix upon breaking. Ask any clinic owner, patients and operators are moving towards subscription-style care, in practice. The global wellness economy is growing at double the rate of global GDP and is projected to hit nearly $9.8 trillion by 2029. According to McKinsey’s June 2025 data, 84% of consumers rank their health as a top or important life priority. This culture around health and wellness marries well with increasing independence with AI supporting patients directly: but it also marries well with people wanting more bespoke, ongoing care. In short, prevention is winning over treatment. ChatGPT for Health will only encourage patients to continue this kind of consumer behaviour: behaviour which is a key signal for the success of private clinics.

If anything, this technology is a gateway for clinics. As patients become keen to understand more about their situations, many will seek further, nuanced advice, treatment and care that AI cannot replicate. If clinics can establish themselves as forward thinking, embracing technological shifts aligned with the cultural changes around healthcare, then patient-facing AI can actually be an advantage for engaging patients and acting as a continuous partner.

How UK Private Healthcare clinics can capitalise on the delay.

Now that ChatGPT for Health has been introduced into the US, marketed to healthcare professionals and patients alike as one of OpenAI’s latest major breakthroughs, the cultural implication is significant. But the opportunity that has arisen for private clinics because of its delayed rollout in the UK is huge. AI has been a big part of healthcare for a few years now: but normalcy and thus adoption will only accelerate once the public begin to use dedicated AI interfaces for healthcare. Not least in that compliance and regulation processes will have to become more defined and codified in effort to keep up with innovation that is too loud to ignore. Therefore, the cost of doing nothing for clinics considering AI integration will only increase, because those who do embrace AI will have more clarity on how they can reap the rewards of workflow efficiency and clinical decision support. Moreover, as AI must be regulated and compliant, it can equally be a tool to enhance compliance capacity and stay on top of regulatory compliance. We’re obviously biased, but using scalable platforms like Motics in clinic will only become a greater necessity as AI becomes more noticeable in healthcare to those who matter most, patients.

Private clinics who are quick to adopt AI before ChatGPT Health and other patient-facing AI interfaces officially launch at scale in the UK will have established trust and operational maturity. We cannot be under any illusion that disruptive AI is coming to the most critical juncture in healthcare: the relationship between patient and clinician. Even though, in many cases, it is already there, it’ll no longer be as quiet, taboo or necessarily problematic once coherent, compliant processes for patients using AI are established. Rather, the onus will be for the clinician to work with AI, understanding the sanctity of their human relationship with their patient, but embracing the reality that many will turn to AI at various points in their journey. The race is now on to establish trust, when people have more questions than answers. Dealing with disruptive technologies requires due diligence and coherent strategies which clinics in the UK and EU have been given time to assess. We can watch from across the pond as US physicians deal with the impact of ChatGPT for Healthcare. We can also get ahead in building technologies that react to a changed Artificial Intelligence Ecosystem in healthcare - and clinics have the chance to adopt technology to future-proof their clinics, before it is too late.

ChatGPT for Healthcare is a wake up call for us all. AI is not waiting around.