Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the APPG on Brain Tumours' report entitled Pathway to A Cure, whether his Department has taken steps to implement that report's recommendations on engaging healthcare professionals with research.

The Department welcomes the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) report, recommendations of which continue to be worked through with the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology, UK Research and Innovation and the Medical Research Council (MRC), and with the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).

In February 2023 the APPG report recommended that NIHR and UKRI should build research capacity, encouraging and retaining talent through fellowships and research incentives. In July 2023, NIHR jointly funded with the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission (TJBCM), the first two TJBCM Neuro-Oncology Fellowships, a new Fellowship Programme to support high quality training in neuro-oncology clinical practice and research to ensure clinicians are equipped with the relevant research skills needed to lead neuro-oncology trials that change practice.

Other capacity-building initiatives underway include: the designation of 28 TJBCM adult Centres of Excellence within the National Health Service, creating a world-class network of brain tumour treatment and research centres to provide the best care and share best practice; the Tessa Jowell Academy Programme, a free national learning and networking digital platform for NHS brain tumour professionals to share excellence in research, treatment and care; and the TJBCM Brain Tumour Research Novel Therapeutics Accelerator programme, to review and provide guidance on the translation and development of novel treatments, guided by a multidisciplinary international group of experts.

The NIHR is continuing to work with the TJBCM to develop further capacity-building initiatives.