Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for an update on the progress of the Palliative and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is developing a Modern Service Framework (MSF) for Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care in England. The MSF is a clinically-led, evidence-based framework to support sustained improvements in outcomes for patients and carers, including by reducing unwarranted variation and addressing inequalities in access, experience, and outcomes. This will be aligned with the ambitions set out in last year’s 10-Year Health Plan.
We intend to publish the full MSF report in autumn 2026, with an interim update planned for publication shortly.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to help UK robotics and autonomous systems manufacturers to scale up their operations.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Government measures to support British technology companies, including robotics firms, to scale up in the UK comprises crowding-in private sector investment via the British Business Bank and National Wealth Fund, both with expanded capitalisations and a mandate to support industrial strategy companies. Further support includes the Made Smarter programme which funds the development, commercialisation and adoption of robotics in manufacturing. The Government is also accelerating the adoption of robotics technologies through a new £52m Robotics Adoption Hubs programme to provide businesses with the expertise to understand and use these systems.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of trends in the proportion of Phase II and Phrase III in commercial oncology clinical trials.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department holds data on commercial clinical trials by phase and therapeutic area, including oncology. However, we do not routinely assess trends in specific segments such as Phase II and Phase III oncology clinical trials.
We use this information alongside wider intelligence to inform policy and to support a competitive environment for clinical research across all phases and disease areas, underpinned by significant investment in National Institute for Health and Care Research delivery infrastructure.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of setting up a database of genomic-enabled trials.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No specific assessment has been made. As set out in our Life Sciences Sector Plan, the Government will design and create a single searchable database of United Kingdom clinical trials by June 2026.
As we implement the UK clinical trials database, we will consider the benefits of including genomic-enabled clinical trials and keep this area under review.
We will put the National Health Service at the front of the global genomics revolution to deliver the 10-Year Health Plan for England.