Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve the collection and reporting of age-disaggregated data on participation in cancer clinical trials, in addition to collecting participation data through NIHR.

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), funded by the Department, funds research and research infrastructure, which supports patients and the public to participate in high-quality research, including cancer clinical trials.

The NIHR Research Delivery Network collects age-disaggregated data on participation in cancer clinical trials across all age groups, for studies supported by NIHR infrastructure, and reports on this data where appropriate.

The Department is working with NHS England and other partners to develop a new data collection approach which will include the age of people participating in NIHR funded studies, including for cancer clinical trials. Once established, this could be expanded to include age data from studies supported by other funders.

The Department is committed to maximising the United Kingdom’s potential to lead the world in clinical research, with the aim of ensuring that all patients, including those with cancer, have access to cutting-edge clinical trials and innovative, lifesaving treatments.