Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has taken recent steps to ensure that clinical trial databases are kept up to date in order to allow patients with metastatic breast cancer to participate in those trials.

To help improve digital infrastructure and services, the Government has increased funding for the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) which supports and funds clinical trials in the United Kingdom, including those for metastatic breast cancer. NIHR provides an online service called 'Be Part of Research' which promotes participation in health and social care research by allowing users to search for relevant studies and register their interest.

The National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service collects and analyses data on all people in England diagnosed with cancer, providing comprehensive data collection and quality assurance over the entire cancer pathway managed by NHS Digital. Health Research Authority has also introduced functionality to automatically register studies seeking approval on the UK-based clinical trials register ISRCTN, which feeds into the Be Part of Research System, increasing data coverage and accuracy for potential participants.