Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she plans to consult (a) the Cystic Fibrosis Trust and (b) other patient organisations in the implementation update for the O’Shaughnessy review recommendations.

The Government appointed Lord O’Shaughnessy to carry out an independent review into UK commercial clinical trials. Following publication of Lord O’Shaughnessy’s review on May 26, the Government made five headline commitments to improve the commercial clinical trials system and make it easier for revolutionary healthcare treatments to get to NHS patients, backed by £121 million.

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. The O’Shaughnessy review was informed by leaders from across the UK clinical trials sector, including medical research charities, regional and national NHS leaders and national delivery partners including regulators. 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.