Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what measures are being implemented to enable more people with early-stage dementia to participate in clinical trials for new treatments, and to ensure equitable access to trials across all regions.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Government responsibility for delivering dementia research is shared between the Department of Health and Social Care, with research delivered via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, with research delivered via UK Research and Innovation.
The Department of Health and Social Care is committed to ensuring that all patients, including those with dementia, have access to cutting-edge clinical trials and innovative, lifesaving treatments.
As an example, the Department, via the NIHR, is investing nearly £50 million into the Dementia Trials Network, a coordinated network of trial sites across the United Kingdom, which will offer people with dementia the opportunity to take part in early phase clinical trials irrespective of where they live. This is complemented by the £20 million Dementia Trials Accelerator, designed to position the UK as the destination of choice for late phase clinical trials in dementia and neurodegenerative diseases.
The NIHR also funds research infrastructure which supports patients and the public to participate in high-quality research, including research on dementia. For example, the aim of the University College London Hospitals’ Biomedical Research Centre’s dementia theme is to develop novel treatments through precision medicine. The theme’s focus on young onset and familial dementias provides key insights into the factors that can cause or speed up neurodegeneration, allowing a window for treatments to be administered, before functional decline occurs.
In partnership with Alzheimer’s Society, Alzheimer’s Research UK, and Alzheimer Scotland, the NIHR also delivers Join Dementia Research, an online platform which enables the involvement of people with and without a dementia diagnosis, as well as carers, to take part in a range of important research, including studies evaluating potential treatments for dementia.
The Government’s Dame Barbara Windsor Dementia Goals programme, which is expected to have nearly £150 million of Government funding allocated to it, or aligned with it, aims to speed up the development of new treatments for dementia and neurodegenerative conditions by accelerating innovations in biomarkers, clinical trials, and implementation.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the role of self-care for minor and self-treatable conditions is reflected in the NHS 10 Year Plan to support the shift from sickness to prevention.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Support for self-care is an essential service that all pharmacies must provide, and can include the provision of advice, information, and where appropriate, the sale of over-the counter-medicines to patients, carers, and the general public to support their self-care for minor ailments. This gives patients easy access to advice from highly trained and skilled healthcare professionals in the community and relieves pressure in other areas of the National Health Service.
Under Pharmacy First, NHS 111, general practices, and accident and emergency departments can refer patients to see a pharmacist for advice on a minor illness, which may include the sale of over-the-counter medicines. They can also refer patients to one of the Pharmacy First seven clinical pathways, as part of which pharmacies can supply prescription-only medicines to patients. Patients can also walk into a pharmacy for treatment as part of the seven clinical pathways.
The 10-Year Health Plan describes a shared vision for the health and care system in 2035, drawing directly from the extensive engagement that has been undertaken with the public, patients, and staff. The plan includes how care models and pathways will need to change or evolve to better meet their needs, and the cultural and behavioural changes we want to see.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many individual applicants have applied for medical speciality training places across all 65 specialities in 2025, and how many training places are available.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold this information as the 2025 medical specialty recruitment process is still ongoing.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the Health Data Research UK projects that access NHS data where specific project independent review was not received from NHS England's Advisory Group for Data, and what is the current status of those projects.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has a Data Sharing Agreement, project identification code DARS-NIC-381078-Y9C5K, with a consortium of academic organisations in the United Kingdom for the purpose of the Health Data Research UK-led, British Heart Foundation Data Science Centre’s CVD-COVID-UK programme.
This agreement was put in place by NHS Digital prior to its merger with NHS England in 2023, and prior to the establishment of NHS England’s Advisory Group for Data (AGD). The AGD was informed of a Senior Information Risk Owner decision to approve an amendment to the agreement on 22 February 2024.
The agreement was subject to reviews by NHS Digital’s Independent Group Advising on the Release of Data (IGARD) on 25 June 2020, 23 July 2020, 15 October 2020, 3 December 2020, 25 February 2021, 29 July 2021, 29 July 2021, 5 May 2022, and 24 November 2022. It was also subject to advice from the Professional Advisory Group on 24 June 2020 and 28 July 2021.
The agreement allowed the data controllers under that agreement to approve access to National Health Service data for individual projects, subject to approval per project by the CVD-COVID-UK oversight committee, which included a representative of NHS Digital/NHS England. Individual projects were not reviewed by IGARD or the AGD.
Under the terms of the agreement, the CVD-COVID-UK oversight committee is required to maintain a list of projects undertaken under the agreement and provide a quarterly report to NHS Digital/NHS England. The following table lists the projects and their current status from the latest report provided in April 2025:
Secure Data Environment research project reference | Current project status | Project title |
CCU001 | Live - Data in Use | Investigating the effects of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers on COVID-19 outcomes |
CCU002 | Live - Data in Use | SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination and the risk of vascular events |
CCU003 | Live - Data in Use | Direct and indirect effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in individuals with cardiovascular disease (CVD) |
CCU004 | Live - Data in Use | COVID-19 and CVD risk prediction |
CCU005 | Live - Data in Use | Data management and analysis methods |
CCU007 | Live - Data in Use | Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on heart disease patients undergoing cardiac surgery |
CCU008 | Completed | Evaluating impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the prevalence and management of risk factors |
CCU010 | Live - Data in Use | In people with CVD and COVID-19, what is the influence of multi-morbidity on risk of poorer outcomes? |
CCU013 | Live - Data in Use | High-throughput electronic health record phenotyping approaches |
CCU014 | Live - Data in Use | Assessing the impact of COVID-19 on clinical pathways using a medicines approach |
CCU018 | Live - Data in Use | COVID-19 infection during pregnancy on CVD and related risk factors |
CCU019 | Live - Data in Use | Identification and personalised risk prediction for severe COVID-19 in patients with rare disorders impacting cardiovascular health |
CCU020 | Completed | Evaluation of antithrombotic use and COVID-19 outcomes |
CCU022 | Live - Data in Use | Genomics of multimorbidity and CVD associated with susceptibility to COVID-19 infection and complications |
CCU023 | Live - Data in Use | Repurposing medicines used to treat CVD risk to prevent COVID-19 |
CCU024 | Completed | CovPall-Connect. Evaluation of how palliative and end of life care teams have responded to COVID-19: Connecting to boost impact and data assets |
CCU028 | Live - Data in Use | Coronary revascularisation and outcomes before and after the COVID-19 pandemic |
CCU029 | Live - Data in Use | Child hospital admission with COVID-19: risk factors; risk groups; and NHS care utilisation |
CCU030 | Live - Data in Use | Examining potential factors underlying the increased risk of severe COVID-19 experienced by people with intellectual and developmental disabilities |
CCU032 | Live - Data in Use | The effects of COVID-19 on heart failure subtypes |
CCU035 | Completed | Are people with COVID-19 and pre-existing respiratory disease at a higher risk of future cardiovascular and venous thromboembolic events compared with COVID-19 patients without pre-existing respiratory disease? |
CCU036 | Live - Data in Use | The impact of previous exposure to COVID-19 and the safety of COVID-19 vaccination for fertility and pregnancy outcomes |
CCU037 | Live - Data in Use | Improving methods to minimise bias in ethnicity data for more representative and generalisable models, using CVD in COVID-19 as an example |
CCU038 | Live - Data in Use | Evaluating the impact of COVID-19 on critical care outcomes |
CCU040 | Completed | Investigating why some people with diabetes have a greater risk of becoming seriously unwell or dying with COVID-19 |
CCU043 | Live - Data in Use | Investigating new onset diabetes following COVID-19 infection |
CCU045 | Live - Data in Use | The impact of COVID-19 on heart failure epidemiology, quality of care and outcomes across primary and secondary care |
CCU046 | Live - Data in Use | Severe mental illness and receipt of acute cardiac care and mortality following myocardial infarction |
CCU049 | Live - Data in Use | Healthcare utilisation in individuals with Long COVID |
CCU051 | Completed | Un-vaccination and under-vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 in the UK |
CCU052 | Live - Data in Use | An observational retrospective cohort study describing the changing epidemiology pre, during and post COVID-19 of asthma, interstitial lung disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in England |
CCU053 | Live - Data in Use | Risks and benefits of treatment with SGLT2 inhibitors and the impact of intercurrent illness with COVID-19 |
CCU056 | Completed | Socio-demographic make-up of patients undergoing surgical and transcatheter aortic valve intervention in England and the impact of COVID-19 on this |
CCU057 | Live - Data in Use | Risks for mortality in people with severe mental illnesses during the COVID-19 pandemic |
CCU058 | Live - Data in Use | COVID-19 impact on the long-term outcomes of Improving Access to Psychological Therapies in people with long-term cardiovascular conditions |
CCU059 | Completed | Which combinations of multiple long-term conditions are associated with the greatest risk of hospital admission over the winter season, and to what extent does COVID-19 or influenza vaccination modify this risk? |
CCU060 | Live - Data in Use | Improving characterisation, prediction and intervention for COVID-19 and influenza-related morbidity and mortality |
CCU063 | Live - Data in Use | The effect of COVID-19 on maternal and paediatric health among individuals whose first language isn’t English and require an interpreter in England: from preconception to adolescence |
CCU064 | Live - Data in Use | Impact of COVID-19 clinical care pathway changes on gestational diabetes incidence and pregnancy outcomes in England |
CCU066 | Live - Data in Use | Changes in acute cardiac care of patients with reduced kidney function during the COVID-19 pandemic |
CCU068 | Completed | The impact of vaccination on the excess clinical risks of COVID-19 in patients with congenital heart disease |
CCU069 | Live - Data in Use | RARE-CVD-COVID: To understand COVID-19 impact on intersectional disparity in rare versus common cardiometabolic diseases: CVD and metabolic diseases, including diabetes |
CCU070 | Live - Data in Use | Supporting novel trial designs using healthcare systems data to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on diabetes research |
CCU071 | Live - Data in Use | A regional approach for policy makers to tackle health inequalities in CVD and its risk factors |
CCU072 | Live - Data in Use | Influence of COVID-19 on British burden of CVD |
CCU073 | Live - Data in Use | Impact of COVID-19 on the association between Type 2 diabetes and incidence of CVD |
CCU074 | Live - Data in Use | Improving the accuracy, equity and efficiency of using healthcare systems data for recruitment to a clinical trial involving people with CVD and diabetes mellitus: a simulation study in the “Covid era” using the CVD‑COVID‑UK dataset |
CCU075 | Live - Data in Use | Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on corticosteroid use and side effects in Takayasu arteritis and ANCA-associated vasculitis in England |
CCU076 | Live - Data in Use | The effect of COVID-19 infection on cardiovascular outcomes: an interaction analysis with environmental exposure |
CCU077 | Live - Data in Use | Risk assessment and long-term outcomes of acute coronary syndrome management strategy in cardio-oncology patients before and after the COVID-19 era |
CCU078 | On hold | Foresight: a generative artificial intelligence model of patient trajectories across the COVID-19 pandemic |
CCU079 | Live - Data in Use | Investigating the diagnoses of conditions among children in England following SARS-CoV-2 infections compared to general respiratory infections |
CCU080 | Live - Data in Use | Impact of COVID-19 on the use of cardiovascular imaging |
CCU081 | Live - Data in Use | Investigating the impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular and thromboembolic events in idiopathic inflammatory myopathies and the incidence of connective tissue diseases |
CCU082 | Live - Data in Use | Pulmonary arterial hypertension in repaired congenital heart disease: impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on prevalence; late diagnosis; and outcomes |
CCU083 | Live - Data in Use | Trends in choice of management strategy for NSTE-ACS among patients with previous bypass surgery before and after the COVID-19 pandemic |
CCU084 | Live - Data in Use | Impact of COVID-19 on stroke incidence, severity, aetiology, management, and outcome in younger versus older individuals in England |
CCU085 | Live - Data in Use | STROKE-IMPACT: What are the long-term consequences of stroke on the patient and to the NHS, and how does COVID-19 contribute to variation? |
CCU086 | Live - Data in Use | A data landscape review of datasets used in the surveillance of neurological complications of COVID-19 |
CCU087 | Live - Data in Use | The impact of COVID-19 on heart failure outcomes: the moderation roles of diabetes and obesity |
CCU088 | Live - Data in Use | The impact of COVID-19 on the management of iron deficiency, with or without anaemia, in primary and secondary care |
CCU089 | Live - Data in Use | The impact of comorbidity, socioeconomic status, and ethnicity on waiting times for surgery before and after the COVID-19 pandemic |
CCU090 | Live - Data in Use | The impact of cardiac rehabilitation following transcatheter aortic valve implantation before and after the COVID-19 pandemic |
CCU092 | Live - Data in Use | Simulation modelling of CVD development and management, identifying the extent to which COVID-19 has impacted on the assessment and treatment of CVD. |
CCU093 | Live - Data in Use | Understanding the relationship between diabetes and the development of multiple long-term conditions in England, Scotland, and Wales during and after the COVID-19 pandemic |
CCU094 | Live - Data in Use | Identifying preventative opportunities for coronary heart disease and stroke in multi-ethnic patients with non-cardiovascular conditions including COVID-19 |
CCU095 | Live - Data in Use | Quantifying and mitigating bias and health inequalities induced by clinical risk models predicting COVID-19-related risks of people with CVD and diabetes. |
CCU096 | Live - Data in Use | Impact of COVID-19 on obesity and risks of cardio-renal-metabolic outcomes |
CCU097 | Live - Data in Use | Drivers, consequences and the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on severe hyperglycaemia at type 2 diabetes diagnosis |
CCU100 | Live - Data in Use | Impact of COVID-19 on fatty liver disease and cardiovascular outcomes in England, across ethnicities and social deprivation |
CCU101 | Live - Data in Use | Lung-Pal-Equity: To identify patterns in use of hospital services in the last year of life for those with advanced lung disease and to examine inequalities by socio-economic group, including before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic |
The status of project CCU078 has been updated to reflect that NHS England paused the project on 29 May. Further detail on the projects is published on the British Heart Foundation Data Science Centre’s website.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with Health Data Research UK about projects that used NHS England’s data for pandemic planning and research without disclosure to a Professional Advisory Group or NHS England's Advisory Group for Data.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has a Data Sharing Agreement, project code DARS-NIC-381078-Y9C5K, with a consortium of academic organisations in the United Kingdom for the purpose of the Health Data Research UK-led, British Heart Foundation Data Science Centre’s CVD-COVID-UK programme. This agreement was put in place by NHS Digital prior to its merger with NHS England in 2023.
The agreement was subject to reviews by NHS Digital’s Independent Group Advising on Release of Data on 25 June 2020, 23 July 2020, 15 October 2020, 3 December 2020, 25 February 2021, 29 July 2021, 5 May 2022, and 24 November 2022. It was also subject to advice from the Professional Advisory Group on 24 June 2020 and 28 July 2021.
As part of the agreed process, all projects undertaken under this agreement required approval by the CVD-COVID-UK Approvals and Oversight Board. NHS Digital/NHS England had a representative on that board and through this decision-making forum, engaged in discussions with Health Data Research UK about projects that used NHS England’s data for pandemic planning and research.
For a project to proceed, approval was required from the NHS Digital/NHS England representative and from the board as a whole. Under the terms of the agreement, the CVD-COVID-UK oversight committee is required to maintain a list of projects undertaken under the agreement and must provide a quarterly report to NHS Digital/NHS England.
Subsequently, concerns have been raised by the Royal College of General Practitioners and the British Medical Association in relation to the Foresight project which was undertaken under the above agreement. NHS England has confirmed to the Royal College of General Practitioners and the British Medical Association that NHS England’s Data Protection Officer is undertaking assurance, and NHS England has met operationally with others, including Health Data Research UK, in relation to this work.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the general practice extraction service data for pandemic planning and research is being used for any direct care decisions.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The General Practice Extraction Service Data for Pandemic Planning and Research is not being used for direct care decisions.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Single Patient Record, for which a request for information was published by NHS England on 29 April, will allow patients to see when and where their record has been accessed.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The single patient record will give staff in any provider access to the information they need to provide care, and would end the need for patients to have to repeat their medical history when interacting with the National Health Service.
We are currently in the early stages of considering the scope, and this includes what information patients will be able to see about when and where their record is accessed. Our engagement with the public identified the importance of there being an audit trail of access.
We will mandate its use by the NHS and social care, so that everyone has the opportunity to have a single patient record.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to mandate that a Single Patient Record, for which a request for information was published by NHS England on 29 April, will be required for every NHS patient.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The single patient record will give staff in any provider access to the information they need to provide care, and would end the need for patients to have to repeat their medical history when interacting with the National Health Service.
We are currently in the early stages of considering the scope, and this includes what information patients will be able to see about when and where their record is accessed. Our engagement with the public identified the importance of there being an audit trail of access.
We will mandate its use by the NHS and social care, so that everyone has the opportunity to have a single patient record.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many resident doctor trauma and orthopaedics training places were offered by each integrated care board in England in 2023–24 and 2024–25.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold data on medical specialty training places by integrated care board, but is able to present data by National Health Service training region. The following table shows the number of trauma and orthopaedics specialist training posts available in the 2023 and 2024 entry rounds by region:
Region | 2023 round posts | 2024 round posts |
East Midlands | 19 | 11 |
East of England | 18 | 11 |
Kent, Surrey and Sussex | 15 | 17 |
London | 20 | 36 |
North East | 6 | 8 |
North West | 16 | 13 |
South West | 13 | 13 |
Thames Valley | 3 | 3 |
Wessex | 7 | 10 |
West Midlands | 13 | 17 |
Yorkshire and the Humber | 13 | 14 |
Total | 143 | 153 |
Source: NHS England, available on the NHS.UK website, in an online only format.
The table presents the number of posts offered at specialist training stage three, meaning medical professionals will already have undertaken at least two years of relevant core training or equivalent before entry to this specialty training programme.
We are committed to training the staff we need to ensure patients are cared for by the right professional, when and where they need it. This is central to the vision in our 10 Year Plan.
We will ensure that the number of medical specialty training places meets the demands of the NHS in the future. NHS England will work with stakeholders to ensure that any growth is sustainable and focused in the service areas where need is greatest.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many resident doctor paediatric training places were offered by each integrated care board in England in 2023–24 and 2024–25.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold data on medical specialty training places by integrated care board, but is able to present data by National Health Service training region. The following table shows the number of paediatric specialist training posts available in the 2023 and 2024 entry rounds by region:
| Specialist training stage one | Specialist training stages three and four | ||
Region | 2023 round posts | 2024 round posts | 2023 round posts | 2024 round posts |
East Midlands | 32 | 32 | 14 | 7 |
East of England | 42 | 31 | 6 | n/a |
Kent, Surrey and Sussex | 18 | 25 | n/a | 4 |
London | 107 | 107 | 24 | 15 |
North East | 19 | 19 | 2 | 1 |
North West | 47 | 42 | 9 | 8 |
South West | 26 | 28 | 18 | 4 |
Thames Valley | 20 | 16 | 4 | 2 |
Wessex | 14 | 16 | n/a | n/a |
West Midlands | 36 | 37 | 6 | 2 |
Yorkshire and the Humber | 56 | 59 | 18 | 5 |
Total | 417 | 412 | 101 | 48 |
Source: NHS England, available at the NHS.UK website, in an online only format.
The table presents the number of posts offered at both specialist training stage one, and at stages three or four. The latter stages mean that the medical professionals will likely have already undertaken at least three or four years of relevant training, or an equivalent, before entry to this later stage of the specialty training programme.
We are committed to training the staff we need to ensure patients are cared for by the right professional, when and where they need it. This is central to the vision in our 10 Year Plan.
We will ensure that the number of medical specialty training places meets the demands of the NHS in the future. NHS England will work with stakeholders to ensure that any growth is sustainable and focused in the service areas where need is greatest.