Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the press notice entitled Biggest prostate cancer screening trial in decades to start in UK published on 19 November 2023, what assessment her Department has made of the additional workforce capacity that will be required to deliver the trial.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). NIHR invests in the research delivery workforce, the facilities and capacity to support clinical trials. The NIHR Clinical Research Facilities and Experimental Cancer Medicine Centres support the delivery of early phase trials and the NIHR Clinical Research Network and Patient Recruitment Centres support delivery and participation in later phase clinical trials. The prostate cancer trial announced on 19 November will be run by Prostate Cancer UK with the Government contributing alongside others.
To maximise research participation, the NIHR provides the online platform ‘Be Part of Research’, which allows users to search for and register their interest in participating in the clinical trials of most interest and relevance to them. NIHR has also supported initiatives to increase diagnosis rates and participation in prostate cancer research by men from black and minority ethnic groups.
The recently announced TRANSFORM trial aims to save thousands of men each year by finding the best way to screen for prostate cancer. The trial will be United Kingdom-wide, although final decisions on specific locations are yet to be taken. Men will be invited to participate via their general practices. This study will also aim to address some of the inequalities that exist in prostate cancer diagnosis today by ensuring that one in 10 of the trial participants will be black men, who are three times overrepresented compared to the population of men aged 45 to 75 as based on 2021 census data.
The UK National Screening Committee will be reviewing the evidence that is published by this study. This will help to inform any future recommendation on creating a national screening programme for prostate cancer.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the press notice entitled Biggest prostate cancer screening trial in decades to start in UK published on 19 November 2023, in which areas will the trial be carried out; and what steps her Department is taking to (a) ensure there is sufficient diagnostics capacity to deliver the additional screening in the trial areas in local areas to deliver increased screening and (b) encourage participation amongst (i) at-risk groups and (ii) black men.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). NIHR invests in the research delivery workforce, the facilities and capacity to support clinical trials. The NIHR Clinical Research Facilities and Experimental Cancer Medicine Centres support the delivery of early phase trials and the NIHR Clinical Research Network and Patient Recruitment Centres support delivery and participation in later phase clinical trials. The prostate cancer trial announced on 19 November will be run by Prostate Cancer UK with the Government contributing alongside others.
To maximise research participation, the NIHR provides the online platform ‘Be Part of Research’, which allows users to search for and register their interest in participating in the clinical trials of most interest and relevance to them. NIHR has also supported initiatives to increase diagnosis rates and participation in prostate cancer research by men from black and minority ethnic groups.
The recently announced TRANSFORM trial aims to save thousands of men each year by finding the best way to screen for prostate cancer. The trial will be United Kingdom-wide, although final decisions on specific locations are yet to be taken. Men will be invited to participate via their general practices. This study will also aim to address some of the inequalities that exist in prostate cancer diagnosis today by ensuring that one in 10 of the trial participants will be black men, who are three times overrepresented compared to the population of men aged 45 to 75 as based on 2021 census data.
The UK National Screening Committee will be reviewing the evidence that is published by this study. This will help to inform any future recommendation on creating a national screening programme for prostate cancer.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce the time taken for clinically-proven drugs to be considered for use on the NHS once they are off-patent.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medicines Repurposing Programme was established in March 2021 by the Department, NHS England, the National Institute for Health Research and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). This seeks to identify new uses for medicines that are outside of the scope of the existing licence for the medicine. This typically involves taking an existing medicine that already has a marketing authorisation or licence for human use for a particular condition, and then using it to treat another condition. It provides a tailored package of support to priority repurposed medicines, potentially including support for research, licensing and implementation.
NICE makes recommendations on whether the benefits of licensed medicines justify their costs and maintains surveillance of new developments that may affect its published guidance, including the latest evidence and any significant changes in the prices of medicines. NICE would consult on proposed changes to its guidance with stakeholders if significant new evidence relating to the clinical- and cost-effectiveness of a medicine were to emerge.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Halton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made an assessment of the implications for its policies of the proposals set out in Cancer Research UK's report entitled Longer, better lives: A manifesto for cancer research and care; and what plans she has to fund cancer research in the next 10 years.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government welcomes Cancer Research UK’s report, which rightly highlights progress made in cancer diagnosis and care.
Cancer is a Government priority, demonstrated by the commitment to the ambition of diagnosing 75% of cancers at stages 1 and 2 by 2028. NHS England has implemented interventions to help achieve this ambition, such as Non-specific Symptom Pathways, and will continue to seek new ways to diagnose cancer earlier and save more lives, for example through the NHS-Galleri blood test trial.
Furthermore, the Department has invested over £100 million into cancer research in 2021/22 through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). In January 2023, Cancer Research UK, NIHR and the devolved administrations jointly provided funding of £47.5 million to the Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre network over the next five years. The Department is working closely with research partners in all sectors, and the Government's continued commitment to cancer research will help to build on that progress, leading to continued improvements for all cancer patients.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department is taking steps to help (a) increase the number of (i) children and (ii) young adults who are recruited to and (b) the development of medical trials for young people with cancer.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department-funded National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) funds research and research infrastructure which supports patients and the public participate in high-quality research. Between 2018/19 and 2021/22, NIHR provided £35.2 million in funding for childhood cancer, equating to 7.8% of total cancer spend. Through the NIHR Clinical Research Network, NIHR supported the opening of 94 children’s cancer studies between 2018 and 2022, and the recruitment of 5,356 participants.
Since 2012, NIHR has funded a network of Paediatric Experimental Cancer Medicine Centres, dedicated to early-phase research on childhood cancers. This has enabled the development of a robust national trial network with international recognition.
In addition, 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. This makes it easier for people to find and take part in health and care research that is relevant to them.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent discussions she has had with (a) domestic stakeholder organisations and (b) international partners regarding the use of human-specific medical research.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Secretary of State has not had any meetings specifically on human-specific medical research. However, the Government is committed to reducing the reliance on the use of animals in research and officials in the department meet representatives from relevant stakeholder organisations and businesses, including the RSPCA, Unilever, LUSH and Animal Free Research.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department is taking steps to help improve collaboration between researchers and healthcare providers to help increase the efficiency of brain tumour clinical trials.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has set out a vision for the Future of UK Clinical Research Delivery which aims to create a research-positive culture in which all health and care staff feel empowered to support and participate in clinical research, this together with the Government response to the O’Shaughnessy review backed by up to £121 million, will improve how research is embedded in the National Health Service, make it a more attractive place to conduct clinical research and improve the speed of commercial clinical trials. More information on the vision is available at the following link:
The Department-funded National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) supports delivery of the vision through investment in research and infrastructure across a range of clinical areas, including brain tumour research. The Department-funded NIHR Biomedical Research Centres are an NIHR infrastructure scheme which provides support for experimental medicine research, including six centres which conduct brain tumour research.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to help support the use of human-specific medical research.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government has no plans to bring forward legislative proposals in this area. We are committed to supporting advances to reduce reliance on the use of animals in research, including stem cell research, cell culture systems, imaging and computer modelling. The UK has a world leading reputation for the delivery of techniques that replace, reduce and refine the use of animals in research (3Rs). UK Research and Innovation provides funding for the National Centre for 3Rs (NC3Rs), which works to drive the uptake of 3Rs technologies and ensure that the 3Rs are reflected in policy, practice and regulations.
Asked by: Dominic Raab (Conservative - Esher and Walton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 4 September 2023 to Question 195426 on Brain: Tumours, how much and what proportion of the National Institute for Health and Care Research's allocated spend was spent on research infrastructure in each year since 2018.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR)’s infrastructure investment funds the world-class facilities, expertise, and skilled delivery workforce for research across the National Health Service and wider health and care system in England from early translational clinical research through to applied health and care research.
It is difficult to attribute this funding to specific disease and therapy areas as the staff and facilities funded through the NIHR infrastructure support research across disciplines. For example, the NIHR Clinical Research Network supported almost one million participants to take part in health and care research in England in 2022/23 across 5,000 studies and 30 specialties, and the 20 NIHR Biomedical Research Centres supported 8,700 experimental medicine studies in 2021/22.
Whilst audited data for NIHR expenditure for 2022/23 is not yet available, the following table shows the NIHR spend on research infrastructure each financial year between 2018/19 and 2021/22 as well the proportion of spend on research infrastructure compared to overall NIHR spend:
| 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | |
| Infrastructure spend | £521,892 | £545,974 | £548,613 | £541,361 | £615,077 |
| Total allocated spend | £1,012,711 | £1,012,920 | £1,036,723 | £1,116,137 | £1,259,436 |
| Infrastructure spend as proportion of total allocated spend | 52% | 54% | 53% | 49% | 49% |
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department provided funding for biomedical research using (a) live animals and (b) non-animal for (i) organ-on-a-chip, (ii) computer modelling and (iii) other technologies in the period between 1 January 2022 and 31 December 2022.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Government funds biomedical and biological research using animals and non-animal methodologies and technologies, recognising that the highly regulated and limited use of animals in scientific procedures remains necessary for understanding how biological systems work, in the development of new medicines, treatments and technologies, and for testing chemicals to protect human health and the environment. UKRI funds research and innovation aimed at reducing or eliminating the use of animals in research, providing approximately £10m per annum for the world-leading National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research to drive the development and uptake of 3Rs technologies – including organ-on-a chip and computer modelling.