Oral Answers to Questions

Alan Mak Excerpts

Tuesday 19th June 2018 Commons Chamber

[Luke Graham (Ochil and South Perthshire) (Con)]

5. What steps his Department is taking to support UK life sciences and medical research.

[Alan Mak (Havant) (Con)]

22. What steps his Department is taking to support UK life sciences and medical research.

[The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Mr Jeremy Hunt)]

The life sciences sector is critical to the UK economy, which is why we support it with a £1 billion annual grant through the National Institute for Health Research.

[Mr Hunt]

I am happy to do that. The life sciences industry is critical to Scotland, and Scotland’s role is critical to the UK. We all remember Dolly the sheep being pioneered in Edinburgh University, and last week’s announcement of a new centre in Renfrewshire is another good example of the great things happening in Scotland.

[Alan Mak]

The use of big data and artificial intelligence in medical research has the potential to save hundreds of thousands of lives. Will my right hon. Friend consider setting up data hubs and support the full digitisation of patient records?

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend is very knowledgeable about that area. We have announced the creation of a set of digital innovation hubs, and perhaps we can broaden those to turn them into the hubs that he thinks would be a good idea.