Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of conducting real world observational studies for assessing the (a) quality, (b) safety and (c) efficiency of medical cannabis products.

Observational studies with a small number of patients do not produce sufficiently robust results to inform routine clinical or commissioning decisions, as there is no robust way to compare findings in the absence of the intervention. Via the National Institute for Health and Care Research, the Department and NHS England are developing two randomised controlled trials into epilepsy in adults and children. The trials will start as soon as possible and results will be published once the trials have completed and the findings have been peer reviewed.