Millions will take part in clinical trials under the 10 Year Health Plan which will speed up clinical research
Patients will receive the most cutting-edge treatments years earlier than planned under the government’s 10 Year Health Plan, which will speed-up clinical trials so the UK becomes a hotbed of innovation.
Millions of people will now be able to search for and sign up to lifechanging clinical trials, via the NIHR Be Part of Research service on the NHS App, allowing patients to browse and find the trials best suited to their interests and needs.
Eventually the plan will see the NHS App automatically match patients with studies based on their own health data and interests, sending push notifications to your phone about relevant new trials to sign up to.
It comes as the NIHR launches a UK-wide recruitment drive for clinical trials – the biggest ever health research campaign – to get as many people involved in research as possible. Adults across the UK are being urged to register, with underrepresented groups including young people, Black people and people of South Asian heritage particularly encouraged to sign up, at bepartofresearch.uk.
The 10 Year Health Plan will bring transparency to which Trusts are performing well in clinical trials – and which are not. All NHS Trusts and organisations will need to submit data on the number of trials being conducted and the amount of progress being made - as we rebuild the country’s global status as the epicentre of research.
Public reporting will show the number of trials sponsored by both commercial and non-commercial sponsors at specific Trusts and other organisations, including universities or Primary Care sites. It will reveal to the government, patients, investors, and Trust boards which NHS organisations are performing well and which are falling behind. Government investment will only be prioritised for the Trusts that can prove they can support the NHS to deliver the treatments of tomorrow.
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said:
In recent years, the UK has fallen behind as a global destination for these trials, with patients and the wider economy missing out. It takes around 100 days to set up a trial in Spain, but around 250 days in the NHS. The plan will see commercial clinical trial set-up times fall to 150 days or less by March 2026 - this will be the most ambitious reduction in trial set-up times in British history.
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Currently set up processes for clinical trials take too long as a result of unnecessary bureaucracy and duplication of activities across different agencies and sites.
Government will cut set up times for clinical trials. Currently, trials have to agree separate contracts with each part of the NHS they want to be involved. The plan will introduce a national standardised contract which can save months of wasted time, as well as simplifying paperwork to remove duplication on technical assurances.
This means if any authority asks for evidence from a study, they can provide it once without having to spend time reframing that evidence differently to meet a separate criteria for another authority.
In the coming weeks, the government will publish its 10 Year Health Plan. Through the plan, we will restore our position as a world leader in clinical trials, so we attract the world’s greatest minds and drive vital investment into the UK. This will spur economic growth, improve the standard of care to support a healthier population, and make the NHS more financially sustainable.
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Professor Lucy Chappell, Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and Chief Executive Officer of the NIHR said:
Dr Vin Diwakar, Clinical Transformation Director at NHS England, said:
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) - which makes sure that medicines and healthcare products available in the UK are safe and effective - has already improved its performance.
All clinical trial approval backlogs are cleared, and performance targets are now being met.
Building on this, the 10 Year Health Plan will see the MHRA focus its attention on the most complex and potentially transformational new treatments – like individually personalised cancer vaccines, and the regulation of artificial intelligence.
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Nicola Perrin, Chief Executive of the Association of Medical Research Charities, said:
Professor Andrew Morris CBE PMedSci, President of the Academy of Medical Sciences, said: