Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support collaboration between NHS researchers, academia, and wider industry in the development of innovative medical treatments.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Technological innovation is central to achieving the Government’s ambitions to build a health and social care system fit for the future, and to shorten the amount of time people spend in poor health.

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is continuing to enable system-wide collaboration by creating integrated frameworks that bring together National Health Service organisations, academia, and industry throughout the innovation lifecycle. This includes through United Kingdom wide access pathways such as the Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway and the Innovative Devices Access Pathway, which concluded in March 2025. These pathways provide developers with an integrated platform for sustained engagement with regulators, UK Health Technology Assessment bodies, and the NHS.

The MHRA has published a statement of policy intent for developing and implementing an Early Access Service for innovative medical devices. The service is intended to accelerate safe patient access to innovative devices, supporting the Government’s ambitions in the Life Sciences Sector Plan. The MHRA also offers early-stage regulatory engagement through its Innovation Office and Innovation Accelerator function.

The NIHR, the Department’s research arm, is strengthening commercial research through the NIHR Industry Hub and by implementing recommendations from the NIHR Industry Engagement and Delivery Review. These measures are creating a more coherent, connected and responsive system for collaboration with industry. This includes unifying approaches to industry engagement across the NIHR, embedding consistent metrics for delivery performance, streamlining costing and contracting processes, and developing tailored support for small to medium enterprises to ensure that innovative biotech and medtech companies can access the UK’s research infrastructure effectively.

The NIHR’s Innovation Catalyst is designed to accelerate late-stage, high-impact innovations, linking NHS need, economic growth, and commercialisation. It will support real-world evaluation and readiness for NHS adoption of innovative treatments. Together, these measures position the UK to deliver commercial trials faster and improve access to innovation treatments, more transparently, and at global scale.

The Government is committed to turbocharging clinical research and delivering better patient care, to make the UK a world-leading destination for clinical research. We are working to fast-track clinical trials and have committed to cutting the current time it takes to get a clinical trial set up to under 150 days, to drive global investment into life sciences, improve health outcomes, and accelerate the development of medicines and therapies of the future.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to (1) promote the representation of women in peace processes, and (2) ensure that inclusion extends to efforts to prevent sexual violence and protect women’s sexual health.

Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington

I refer the Noble Baroness to the answers I gave on this issue in response to the Lord Bishop of Gloucester's Oral Question on 30 June. At the UN Security Council Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security on 17 June, the UK also reiterated this Government's approach to supporting women's participation in peacebuilding, access to protection and reproductive health services, and efforts to prevent and respond to conflict-related sexual violence.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the finding of the King’s College London study, The use of AI in UK healthcare: Public perceptions and healthcare priorities, published in May 2026, that one in seven people are using AI chatbots for health advice instead of consulting their GP.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government has considered evidence and undertaken an assessment on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for health information, including the King’s College London study. A more detailed assessment is now taking place, including recommendations on next steps.

We recognise that the public increasingly uses a range of tools when exploring their health, including AI-powered chatbots, many of which are underpinned by large language models that generate conversational responses based on patterns in data rather than clinical judgement. This reflects wider shifts in how people access information. However, the accuracy and reliability of responses generated by these systems can vary, and they are not a substitute for professional medical advice, particularly where symptoms are complex, uncertain, or potentially serious.

We are transforming how patients access general practice, expanding rapid remote consultations, digital triage, and out‑of‑hours provision so people can get timely, clinically appropriate support in the way that best meets their needs.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the United Kingdom’s capability to participate in EU-wide and international clinical trials for rare cancers.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government recognises that international collaboration is essential for clinical trials in rare cancers, where small and geographically dispersed patient populations mean that multi-country studies are necessary to generate robust clinical evidence.

The United Kingdom associated to Horizon Europe in January 2024, enabling UK entities to participate in European Union wide and international clinical trials, including on rare cancers. Through Horizon Europe, the UK participates in the EU Cancer Mission and the European Rare Diseases Research Alliance. These complementary Horizon Europe initiatives are bringing together funding, international expertise, and patient advocacy to support international clinical trials to improve survival rates and access to treatments for those affected by rare cancers globally.

The UK has strong capability to participate in EU-wide and international trials, supported by National Institute for Health and Care Research funding and its wider investments in research infrastructure, which enable the delivery of high-quality, complex studies. Rare cancer trials are being further strengthened through the National Cancer Plan for England and the implementation of the Rare Cancers Act 2026, which will support the UK’s delivery of rare cancer trials and participation in international studies.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what support departments other than the Department of Health and Social Care provide to Integrated Care Boards to address social determinants of health and tackle health inequalities.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The United Kingdom faces significant health inequalities, with life expectancy and healthy life expectancy varying widely both within and between communities. Through our 10-Year Health Plan, we are committed to tackling the social determinants of health, improving healthy life expectancy for everyone, and halving the gap between the richest and poorest regions.

NHS England's recently published statement on health inequalities provides information on health inequalities that supports relevant National Health Service bodies, such as integrated care boards (ICBs), NHS trusts, and NHS foundation trusts, to fulfil their legal duties and take an evidence-led improvement approach to tackling health inequalities.

The 10-Year Health Plan sets out that ICBs will be strategic commissioners of local health services, ensuring that the money available to each local care system is put to the best possible use: to improve their population’s health; reduce health inequalities; and improve access to consistently high-quality services. They are expected to draw on a deep understanding of population need and will need to shape commissioning plans through engagement with patients and the public.

As part of the 10-Year Health Plan a new commissioning framework is being developed for ICBs. The ambition for the future of strategic commissioning is that ICBs will continue to work in partnership. They will use their ability to bring together providers, local government, and other stakeholders to best improve healthcare and the health and wellbeing of their local population.

By strategically and intentionally managing resources and operations, anchor institutions, such as the NHS, can help address local social, economic, and environmental priorities in order to reduce health inequalities. An anchor approach provides an opportunity to create a clear link between the social determinants of health and the core operational functions of the NHS.

The Department works closely with other Government departments, NHS England, and local government to support integrated care systems, including integrated care services, to address the wider determinants of health and reduce health inequalities at a local level.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential benefits of (1) running a targeted public health campaign to raise awareness of the health consequences of physique-enhancing drugs, including anabolic steroids, and (2) using social media platforms as part of any such campaign.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government recognises the mental and physical health risks of people taking physique-enhancing drugs, including anabolic steroids. The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever and to exploring options, through the cross-Government National Youth Strategy, to improve young people’s access to accurate health information, both online and offline. We are also taking action through the men’s health strategy to improve health literacy.

The Government hosts Talk to FRANK, a drug and alcohol information and advice service for young people, parents, and others concerned about drug use. The website includes information on the mental and physical health risks of steroid use and is updated regularly. Treatment for image and performance enhancing drug use within drug and alcohol treatment services is available, depending on local commissioning arrangements. Drug and alcohol treatment services and local authority public health teams raise awareness of the risk of drug use, including physique-enhancing drugs, through targeted campaigns with their local populations according to local need, and the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities supports them in this.

The Department of Health and Social Care has worked closely with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on its consultation, Growing up in the online world, whose outcomes were published in June 2026. This consultation will help inform future policy to better protect children’s health and wellbeing and ensure that digital platforms play their part in promoting safe and healthy online experiences.

We are also taking a range of actions to improve men’s health literacy, as set out in the Men’s Health Strategy. These include:

• ensuring health literacy improvements are embedded at community level;

• building the evidence base on health literacy in men;

• working closely with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport; and

• identifying ways to build media literacy skills in men to help them critically assess health information and protect against misinformation that harms to health.