Oral Answers to Questions

Alan Mak Excerpts

Tuesday 20th March 2018 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Alan Mak (Havant) (Con)]

1. What progress his Department is making on implementing the Government's Life Sciences Industrial Strategy.

[The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Mr Jeremy Hunt)]

The UK has a fantastic life sciences industry. As a result of the sector deal announced in December, a further £210 million is being invested in research and £162 million in medical manufacturing.

[Alan Mak]

Patient outcomes can be improved by sharing big datasets and integrating new technologies, such as artificial intelligence, across the NHS. Will my right hon. Friend update the House on the NHS’s plans to digitise and adapt to the fourth industrial revolution?

[Mr Hunt]

I am looking forward to reading my hon. Friend’s report into this topic in May. We are a bit of a curate’s egg in this country. We have five of the world’s top 10 medical research universities and more than double the number of Nobel prizes of France, so we do incredibly well on the research side, but some of our hospitals are still running on paper, which is totally inappropriate. That is why we are determined to implement the Wachter review.