Asked by: Lord Selkirk of Douglas (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government when patient organisations such as Cystic Fibrosis Trust, whose Clinical Trials Accelerator Platform informed the design of Clinical Trial Acceleration Networks, will be able to share lessons to feed into the implementation update for the O'Shaughnessy Review.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government appointed Lord James O’Shaughnessy to carry out an independent review into United Kingdom commercial clinical trials. Following publication of the review on May 26, the Government made five headline commitments to improve the commercial clinical trials system backed by £121 million. This included £20 million to establish two or three new Clinical Trial Acceleration Networks which will bring together several existing mechanisms to create a joined-up approach to clinical trials, focusing on accelerating priority areas of research and delivering best practice.
An update on implementation will be provided in Autumn, which will outline progress against these commitments as well as responding in full to the review recommendations. Implementation of the five headline commitments and the full review response will be informed by consultation with the UK clinical trials community including individual medical research charities and the Association of Medical Research Charities, of which the Cystic Fibrosis Trust is a member.
Asked by: Lord Selkirk of Douglas (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to support for people living with long-term conditions such as cystic fibrosis, following the publication of the report Your life and CF by the Cystic Fibrosis Trust on 6 June, which found that one in five people affected by that condition missed a hospital appointment in the past 12 months due to cost.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
People with long term conditions such as cystic fibrosis who are eligible for financial assistance through the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme can claim a refund of reasonable travel costs. Travel expenses should be calculated by reference to the cheapest means of transport that is reasonable for the patient. This can include journeys made in a private vehicle.
To help alleviate cost pressures associated with travel for appointments, NHS England is supporting NHS providers to embed, spread and use video consultations innovatively across their services. The decision on whether an appointment needs to take place face-to-face, on video or by telephone will be made by an expert clinician based on patients’ individual care needs and preferences.
Asked by: Lord Selkirk of Douglas (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to (1) undertake, or (2) take part in, an international inquiry into the origins of COVID-19 and its global spread.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The World Health Organization (WHO) has an important role to play in leading the global health response. We want to see the WHO continue to learn lessons on how to improve its response to global health emergencies and as such would expect a full review of all elements of their response to COVID-19 to take place once they are out of response mode, as has occurred after previous Public Health Emergencies of International Concern. The United Kingdom intends to engage constructively with a future review.