Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to increase the capacity of NHS staff to conduct medical research; and whether his Department has plans to increase the access of NHS staff to dedicated research time.

On 23 March 2021 the Government published its vision for the future of clinical research delivery in the United Kingdom. This aims to create a research positive culture across the National Health Service and all health and care settings, where all staff feel empowered and supported to participate in clinical research delivery, offering rewarding opportunities for all healthcare staff and exciting careers for those from all professional backgrounds who lead research. An implementation plan and strategy setting out how the Government will begin to deliver the vision in 2021/22 will be published later this year.