Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people were recruited into National Institute for Health and Care Research supported phase 3 trials for (a) dementia, (b) cancer, (c) stroke and (d) coronary heart disease in the last five years.

A table showing the number of participants recruited into phase three trials in England, supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research, for dementia, cancer, stroke, and coronary heart disease in the last five years is attached. It should be noted that this includes studies on atherothrombosis and the prevention of coronary artery disease.

The numbers of participants declined between the years 2020/21 and 2021/22. While it is not possible to confirm the exact reasons for this decline, this is likely due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the focus on recruiting participants to urgent COVID-19 studies over these years. Other fluctuations are likely due to large sample size studies within the dataset, which have since opened or closed recruitment.